Piri Pāua: Mātauranga Māori and marine science approach to growth rate and length at maturity of pāua in the Bay of Plenty 2022-2024

Abstract

Pāua is a highly regarded taonga (culturally important) species. Mai i ngā Kurī ā Whārei ki Tihirau (the Bay of Plenty Regional Iwi Customary Fisheries Forum) raised concerns about the current state of pāua in Te Moana-a-Toi (Bay of Plenty). This project utilised localised intergenerational observations of population dynamics in traditional harvesting areas to assess pāua productivity in the Tauranga Moana Mātaitai Reserve in Tauranga and Te Rohe Moana o Ngāti Awa in Whakatāne. The project combined mātauranga Māori alongside marine science field methods.

Results were compared with previous iwi-led research at Tauranga in 2013 and Whakatāne in 2010. The pāua population in 2023 had declined by almost half in Tauranga but remained relatively consistent across all sites in Whakatāne. However, pāua were small sized in both locations, with less than 1% of individuals reaching the Minimum Legal Size (125 mm) for harvesting. Growth rate surveys were conducted in the wild at both locations from June 2023 to the end of May 2024 and identified pāua as slow growing and, as a result, sexually mature at smaller sizes than in other regions of Aotearoa New Zealand.