kinaowhanganuiatara – Read about the seaweed restoration project by Taranaki Whānui and Te Atiwa ki te Ūpoko o te Ika ā Maui – Ko te kaiwhakahaere o kina o Whanganui-a-Tara, Managing Kina in Wellington Harbour.

Building Mātauranga. Growing Knowledge.

Can kina removal support kelp forest regeneration?

Investigating the impact of sea urchin removal on seaweed regeneration.

A research project by Taranaki Whānui and
Te Atiawa ki te Ūpoko o te Ika ā Maui

Underwater Forests & Kina

Thriving underwater forests disappear just below the surface of Wellington Harbour and with these, all the marine life the forests support. We have identified that grazing by kina is a key driver for the decline. A lack of kina predators allow kina to forage in large numbers turning seaweed forests into barren areas, so called kina barren.

Kelp Forests

Kelp forests provide shelter and food for many kaimoana and native marine species, sequester carbon and protect the shore from erosion.

Kina Grazing

Without enough of their natural predators, kina numbers grow and kina forage more actively than usual on the seaweed forests. They chew through the holdfasts (like roots) and stipes (stems).

Kina Barren

When the holdfast dies, the forest gets thinner. This exposes sponges and other soft marine life to currents and predators they wouldn’t normally face. Over time, they vanish too, and only barren rock remains.

Our Mahi

Mana whenua and volunteers have removed kina from the project area under a Ministry of Primary Industry special permit and monitor the effect of kina removal. We will document if and what seaweed is coming back to the research area. Watch a video of the recovery and find out more…

Who’s involved

Taranaki Whānui ki te Ūpoko o te Ika ā Maui is leading the project.

Te Atiawa ki te Ūpoko o te Ika ā Maui are tangata whenua of Te Whanganui-a-Tara. They have mana whenua rights over the moana and have active kaitiaki overseeing the harbour. Te Atiawa together with Taranaki Whānui build mātauranga and ensure that kina are treated as a taonga species and the project works to local tikanga.

Atiawa Nui Tonu Fisheries is the MPI permit holder. Kina removal is regulated under a special permit from the Ministry of Primary Industry – no commercial use or sale of kina is allowed.

Project Baseline Wellington divers are monitoring seaweed forests and kina barren, collecting data on kina numbers and the impact of kina grazing.

Wellington’s Dive Community is supporting the kina removal and ongoing monitoring of the project area.