Tuna Hui 2025: A Powerful Convergence for the Restoration of Waterways

The Tuna Hui | Eel Symposium 2025 recently brought together local and international experts, iwi and hapū, community groups, councils, and researchers, all united by a common purpose: protecting and restoring waterways for tuna.

The Challenge We Face

Our tuna are in trouble. Their populations are declining, and with them, the health and mauri of our rivers. This is not just an ecological issue - it is cultural, environmental, and central to who we are in Aotearoa.

Across two days of presentations, the scale and complexity of the threats became clear. We heard about the hidden impacts of pollutants on eel populations, mass die-offs in our freshwaters, and the challenges tuna face navigating our modified waterways. From hydropower schemes to urban stormwater systems, the barriers to tuna survival are many and urgent.

Voices of Knowledge and Action

The symposium wove together Mātauranga Māori, science, conservation, and lived experience, with perspectives from Aotearoa, around the Pacific, and Europe.

Day Two's plenary speaker, Siobhan Nuri, captivated the audience with her presentation "Eelusive tuna" - a fitting reminder of just how much mystery still surrounds these remarkable creatures, even as we work to save them.

We heard from Ngāti Manawa about their tuna heke active transfer programme, from researchers tracking oceanic migration pathways, and from community groups like Ngā Kaitiaki o Ngā Wai Māori responding to the karanga o ngā tuna - the call of the eels.

Jenny Bond shared insights from Te Tuna Tāone, an urban eel action learning programme that demonstrates how city-based communities can take meaningful action for tuna.

Urban Solutions: Awhi Awa | Embrace a Stream

Natalie Jessup, GM of Tāngaro Tuia te Ora, Endangered Species Foundation, presented the Awhi Awa | Embrace a Stream project, showing how urban communities - where most New Zealanders live - hold real power to restore and protect tuna habitats.

Through education and practical action around stormwater management, Awhi Awa reconnects people in cities with their local streams and the species that depend on them. By combining mātauranga, local knowledge, and practical tools, the project enables schools, community groups, and businesses to take place-based action that directly benefits not just tuna, but kōkopu, kōaro, kanakana (lamprey), and even Māui and Hector's dolphins.

The presentation shared stories of city-based communities embracing responsibility for the waterways in their backyards, creating a ripple effect of awareness and action. When people see themselves as part of the solution, healthier streams - and thriving tuna - become possible.

Moving Forward Together

The message from the hui was clear: the momentum is here, and it must continue. Tuna need to remain at the centre of our conversations about freshwater, culture, and biodiversity.

Several concrete actions emerged from the gathering:

• A unified publication - summarising the outcomes of the hui in an accessible format for relevant authorities, consolidating the diverse mahi being done across the country.

• A national tuna working group - bringing together national and international expertise to drive positive action, share knowledge, advocate for improved practices, and work collectively toward meaningful, long-term outcomes for our tuna.

• Raising awareness - including potential podcast episodes with RNZ's Our Changing World to share the state of our tuna and the efforts to support them with a wider audience.

• Maintaining momentum - including interest in future hui to continue strengthening this collective movement.

Ngā mihi to everyone who travelled, presented, and contributed so generously. The Tuna Hui showed that when we bring diverse knowledge systems and passionate communities together, real change becomes possible.

Watch this space - the work continues, and tuna need us all.