Free diver’s footage reveals thriving marine life off Hawke’s Bay coast

A Hawke’s Bay free diver has captured footage of abundant sea life off the Ahuriri coast, just 30 metres from shore.

Harry Machiela said the Bay’s marine life is the healthiest he has ever seen it and hopes “it will get even better”.

The video comes as Hawke’s Bay Regional Council (HBRC) prepares its state of the environment report, due to be released later this year.

Machiela’s video was put together from four clips he took off Hardinge Rd in Ahuriri. It includes blue moki, hiwihiwi [kelp fish], wrasse, leatherjackets, trevally and paketi (the spotty one).

The businessman, who is also a lifeguard for Pacific Surf Life Saving Club, spends a lot of time in the sea.

“I love the sea but don’t dive a lot around here because the visibility is not good,” Machiela said.

“But this particular day, just 30m off Hardinge Rd, it was great.

“For many years, there has been bugger all marine life that close to shore. Now there appears to be an abundance of it.

“There’s also been a huge amount of snapper, gurnard and loads of other fish being caught in the Bay this year. Lots of people can’t even remember when it was this good,” he said.

He puts it down to two factors.

“First, I suspect the silt from the Ngaruroro and Tūtaekurī Rivers was better for the fish than what people thought, and secondly, there was so much debris in the sea that trawlers couldn’t go out.

“You really only need to go out to the 30m mark by the shipwreck and put your line down to get something.”

In April 2023, National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa) scientists compared the seabed before and after Cyclone Gabrielle with mapping off Hawke’s Bay’s coast.

Research vessel Ikatere mapped about 200sq km of seabed off the coast of Hawke’s Bay using a multibeam echosounder from 15m deep.

Free diver Harry Machiela captured video footage of abundant marine life just 30m from shore in Ahuriri.

Previous monitoring was carried out to help Niwa and HBRC identify which areas were important for biodiversity of habitation, and to improve ongoing reporting on the state of the marine environment.

At the time, Niwa marine geologist Dr Joshu Mountjoy said a fair amount of work had been done around near-coastal impacts after storms but this was the first time they had a detailed data set from before the actual event.

HBRC manages the coastal marine environment out to the 12-nautical mile limit and works to improve water quality and boost marine life in the area.

A HBRC spokesperson said its state of the environment report would be released later this year.

“It will describe any changes in marine life we’ve seen in the last three years,” the spokesperson said.

Fisheries New Zealand director of fisheries management Emma Taylor said they appreciated the feedback from people who are out on the water and have first-hand knowledge of their local fishery.

“This information forms an important piece of the fisheries management puzzle,” Taylor said.

“The key measure of New Zealand’s fisheries management system, including the quota management system (QMS), is the sustainability of our fisheries.

Overall they are in good shape, as evidenced by our scientific stock assessments.

“There will always be challenges and opportunities to improve as we adapt to fluctuations in fish stocks, fishing effort and environmental factors, including climate change,” she said.

“We’re already seeing the effects of climate change, with some species thriving in the warmer temperatures and appearing in waters further south than before, such as snapper.”

She said while observations of increased abundance for a fish stock can be seen in one year, it was important to note there can be fluctuations from year to year.

“For example, our analyses of red gurnard, a popular species for recreational fishers in Hawke’s Bay, indicates the inshore and offshore distribution can vary substantially from year to year because of environmental conditions.”

She said they weren’t aware of any recent change in the number of trawlers in Hawke’s Bay.

“It’s worth noting there has been some impact on fishing operations following Cyclone Gabrielle due to debris in the water and disturbance of sediment.

“We review a range of fish stocks around the country through Fisheries New Zealand’s twice-yearly sustainability rounds which look at catch limits and management settings. These reviews are based on the best available scientific evidence and information about fish stocks, including feedback from tangata whenua and the public,” Taylor said.

“For the October 2024 sustainability review, catch limits for snapper and rig in the wider Hawke’s Bay area were increased, reflecting the best available science and information telling us that these fisheries are thriving and abundant.”

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.