Northland's Environmental River Patrol founder, Millan Ruka is posting photographs online of cattle and dairy cows polluting waterways, to shame dirty dairy farmers.
Mr Ruka has been documenting the damage done to Whangarei rivers for the past two and a half years and filing detailed reports to the Northland Regional Council.
He says a number of farmers have responded by fencing off their riverbanks, but many have not. He says the regional council's rules on stock in waterways are still weak.
Millan Ruka says a recent study by NIWA has shown the percentage of long-fin eels in the Wairua River has dropped to 22% of previous numbers.
He says older Maori remember the long-fin, New Zealand's only endemic eel, as the predominant species in the catchment, but they're steadily being replaced by short-fin eels, which have more tolerance for dirty water.
Mr Ruka says up till now, he's limited his internet posts of cattle polluting rivers, but this month, out of frustration, he's made all his reports and graphic photographs available to the public worldwide, on Google Picasa.
He says as the farmers involved fence their banks, he will take the photos down.
Millan Ruka and Henry Ruka on the upper Whakapara River - above confluence of the Wairua River. Photo: Environmental River Patrol
