Tasman Gillies

Tasman’s moemoea is for the establishment of the Rimurimu Monitoring Array, a kaupapa to restore mahinga kai within Whakaraupō Mātaitai, ensuring the vitality and sustainability for his rohe.

Tasman’s moemoeā…

My moemoea for this project is to restore mahinga kai within Whakaraupō Mātaitai, ensuring the vitality and sustainability of our rohe moana for future generations. This initiative stems from my whanau’s enduring commitment to customary fisheries, led by my poua, Bill Gillies, the first Tangata Tiaki, who established the Rāpaki Mātaitai in 1998. As an appointed Tangata Tiaki myself, I seek to uphold our whanau’s rangatiratanga and continue our customary practices of mahinga kai in harmony with our tikanga.

The core of this project is the restoration of rimurimu (Macrocystis pyrifera), a keystone species essential to the health of our marine ecosystems and mahinga kai. Whakaraupō has suffered significant loss of rimurimu due to marine heatwaves and habitat destruction. By establishing a research monitoring array within the Whakaraupō Mātaitai, we aim to test the viability of growing rimurimu while monitoring the environmental and food safety impacts. This mātauranga will inform the establishment of a permanent kelp farm, supporting a regenerative business model for Ngāti Wheke Tangata Tiaki.

Funds will directly support the construction, deployment, and monitoring of the research arrays. This involves costs for rimurimu propagation, lab work, transport, and the design and deployment of the monitoring structures, which will include scientific instruments for measuring light, temperature, and pollutants. The data gathered will help us assess the kelp’s growth potential.

In partnership with the University of Otago the propagation of rimurimu, sourced from our rohe, has already begun. The project aligns with Environment Canterbury’s Regional Coastal Plan, adhering to permitted activity provisions for scientific arrays. In tandem, we will exercise our rangatiratanga through the South Island Customary Fishing Regulations to safeguard our mahinga kai.

This initiative will restore mahinga kai and strengthen our customs and leadership in the oceans sector.

What were the major outcomes of this kaupapa? 

Since receiving the Tonganui Scholarship funding, several practical milestones have been achieved in progressing our kelp restoration kaupapa. The propagation of rimurimu (giant kelp) with whakapapa to Whakaraupō was undertaken at the University of Otago’s Portobello Marine Laboratory, using specialist skills and facilities. Following successful propagation, we carried out the immediate transport and planting out of juvenile Macrocystis pyrifera into Whakaraupō Mātaitai, utilising a project team of local boat crew and UoO divers for efficient deployment. In October 2024, kelp was seeded at prepared sites – each featuring a 10m seaweed line anchored to the reef, lined with juvenile kelp cultivated from local giant kelp stock i.e. rimurimu with whakapapa to Whakaraupō. In addition, light and temperature sensors were installed at two of the four sites to enable monitoring of growth conditions.

A follow-up survey during December 2024 involved retrieving the environmental loggers and assessing kelp establishment. Unfortunately, the kelp had not successfully taken hold, likely due to late season planting and unusually high temperatures at the sites. Despite this, the monitoring process provided valuable data and highlighted the importance of timing and site selection for future efforts. An unexpected benefit was the opportunity to observe and document the rich diversity of species within the mātaitai kohanga area, further underscoring the critical role of active kaitiakitanga in sustaining the resilience and health of our local fishery.

What were some of the challenges your kaupapa faced during its implementation?

One of the main challenges encountered during the project was the timing of the rimurimu (giant kelp) reseeding. Ideally, propagation and planting would align with the cooler months, when ocean conditions are most favourable for macrocystis establishment. However, to make full use of the scholarship funds within the timeframe, we were only able to propagate and plant out the kelp late in the year. This coincided with warmer ocean temperatures, which historically are less conducive to successful kelp growth.

As a result, despite swift mobilisation and best efforts from all partners, the late season planting likely contributed to poor establishment of the juvenile kelp. Other than this timing constraint, no significant challenges or obstacles were encountered—the operational, logistical, and collaborative aspects of the project proceeded smoothly.

How did this kaupapa benefit from the Tonganui Scholarship? 

The project benefited significantly from the Tonganui Scholarship funding, which enabled us to access the high level of capability necessary to undertake the reseeding of macrocystis (giant kelp). Practical restoration of this nature requires not only the use of specialist divers and equipment for deployment, but also direct access to expertise in seaweed ecology, physiology, and restoration—resources that are not readily available within most community-led projects. The scholarship funds were instrumental in covering these direct costs and securing technical support from our partners at TMK Research and the University of Otago, whose contributions were critical throughout the propagation, planting, and monitoring phases.

A major advantage was the flexibility of the funding, which allowed us to allocate resources precisely where they were needed as the project evolved—whether for unplanned operational requirements, expert knowledge time, or the logistics of field deployment. This adaptability was highly valued by our team and directly supported the completion of each project stage. Without the financial support provided by this scholarship, it is unlikely that we could have delivered a project requiring such specific skills, technical capacity, and rapid mobilisation. The funding enabled a genuinely Māori-led, science-supported initiative that otherwise may not have been possible.

What are your future plans for this kaupapa?

We absolutely intend to continue with this kaupapa, as the project was conceived from the outset as a foundational step in restoring rimurimu and deepening our understanding of effective habitat restoration within Whakaraupō. Using the mātauranga, environmental data, and practical experience we’ve gained, our current focus is on scaling up both the technical capability and the geographic reach of rimurimu restoration efforts. We are looking to refine our reseeding techniques, trial new planting windows, and extend activity to further areas within the mātaitai—guided by the lessons learned in this first phase.

More broadly, ongoing restoration and protection of our fisheries is central to our responsibility as kaitiaki, for our people today and for the generations that follow. This project has moved us forward on that journey, strengthening both the cultural and scientific foundations from which future success will grow. Our hope is to build a robust model for restoration that others can adopt, deepen the intergenerational engagement of Ngāti Wheke with our moana, and ensure our customary fisheries continue to thrive, mō tātou, ā, mō kā uri ā muri ake nei.