22 Mar 2025

Channel finished to release tuna/eels

From Saturday Morning, 9:26 am on 22 March 2025

Tuna being caught and released to complete life cycle. Photo: Supplied

This week whānau from Wairewa, Lake Forsyth have been working hard to ensure tuna, long and short finned eels can complete their lifecycle.

The tuna have been trapped in the lake by a bank of shingle that's built up over time.

The group from the Environmental Board for Wairewa caught about a thousand tuna earlier this week and then released them into the ocean and in the last 24 hours they've finished digging a channel into the bank to release many more.

Aaria Rolleston is spokesperson for the Mana Whenua Mana Moana Pou - Environmental Board for Wairewa and speaks to Susie.

Tuna being caught and released to complete life cycle. (PHOTO: Supplied)

Kaitiaki at Wairewa / Lake Forsyth with channels for tuna (PHOTO: Supplied)

Aaria Rolleston and Dr Matiu Prebble (PHOTO: Supplied)

Channels enable the capture of tuna, short and long fin eel that have been trapped by the shingle bank to then be released into the ocean (PHOTO: Supplied)

Digger creating channel in shingle bank so tuna trapped in Wairewa / Lake Forsyth can access the ocean in order to swim to Tonga, spawn and die - completing their lifecycle. (PHOTO: RNZ)

Tuna eel captured in Wairewa, Lake Forsyth and released to complete life cycle. (PHOTO: Supplied)