Shellfish numbers on Marlborough's east coast continue to drop

Sunday, 16 May 2021

A member of Marlborough’s East Coast protection group says shellfish numbers continue to be in decline, which comes as the council moves closer to introducing a proposed by-law to ban all vehicles on the affected land.

East Coast Protection Group member Rob Peter has been privately surveying the area between Mussel Point and Snapper Point, east of Marfells Beach for the past three years.

Peter said he has found there to be a significant reduction in the number of shellfish along the coast.

“I don’t think we’re looking after the foreshore well enough, and then the earthquake, and in 2018, we had a big storm and that washed a lot of them [shellfish] up too,” Peter said.

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“So it’s a combination of several things, that’s what’s leading to it.”

Following the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, there was a complete ban introduced on gathering pāua and shellfish from Marfells Beach near Lake Grassmere, to Conway River, near Hundalee which extended 4 nautical miles out to sea. The ban did not apply to crayfish, scampi or octopus.

The ban was introduced after coastal uplift caused by the quake left stock out of the water.

On February 18, Peter and a team “sieved” 18 sites 350mm square by 300mm deep, in the mid and lower tidal zones.

They found three live shellfish and large amounts of shell fragments.

Peter thought it indicated shellfish had been dying and breaking down into the sand.

A combination of several factors had led to the huge decline in shellfish numbers, Peter said.

Over the three years, Peter said they had tested 68 sites and had only found 11 live shellfish between the size of 8 to 24mm.

The same East Coast Protection Group in March 2019 conducted 15 tests and found hundreds of empty juvenile shells, but no live shellfish.

A series of 10 random tests after March found only two living shellfish; one 11mm pipi and one 10mm whelk.

East Coast Protection Group member Rob Peter looks over the east coast, towards the Cape Campbell Lighthouse.

In 2019, The Marlborough District Council began drafting a bylaw to ban all vehicles on the beaches, reefs, and dunes between the Awatere and Waima/Ure river mouth.

The council said the area is known for its cultural significance to multiple iwi, including statutory claims and other longstanding connections. With pā sites throughout the area, the coast is home to mahinga kai (food gathering) of significance from the sea and rivers.

The Department of Conservation, police and six east coast landowners supported a total vehicle ban, but Te Rūnanga a Rangitāne o Wairau asked for all but quad bikes to be barred, while the pāua and rock lobster industries wanted speed limits on quad bikes.

While the bylaw proposal had been delayed more than once, a spokesperson from the Marlborough District Council said it was expected to go to a full council meeting on June 24.

The public submissions period was expected to open on July 1, the spokesperson said.

Peter said people driving in the intertidal zone claimed it did not do a lot of damage.

“But it’s damaging to shellfish and shore birds that are nesting,” he said.

“The migratory birds are also feeding in this area.

“When you look at it properly, there’s no part of the beach that’s good to drive on. Whether you affect this species or another species, that’s the choice you make by driving.”