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Auckland Council is working to determine what caused the death of dozens of eels in an estuary in Huntington Park. Times photos Wayne Martin
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Dozens of eels found dead in waterway By CHRIS HARROWELL SC4144-V2
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Vol 49, No 45
JH16371
Tuesday, December 22, 2020
From the team at the Times
Est. 1972
An investigation is under way into what led to the deaths of dozens of eels in an east Auckland waterway. Burswood resident Paul Taylor posted photos on social media on December 14 of what he says were more than 30 dead eels in the upper estuary in Huntington Park, near Ti Rakau Drive. He reported the find to Auckland Council, which is working to identify what caused the eels’ death. “Local children feed the eels,” Taylor told the Times. “I was told of the incident from neighbours who had first seen them and then went up to investigate.”
The council updated him that staff had visited the site and taken some eels away for analysis. He says he’s pleased with how quickly the council responded to the situation. Photos taken by the Times of the estuary show multiple dead eels of different lengths, as well as a fish, floating near the water’s surface. One image shows a dead eel surrounded by rubbish including what appears to be about 20 small pieces of plastic. Council team leader compliance response south Dirk Timp says the council’s compliance team visited the site to investigate after receiving a report of dead eels in the waterway.
“On arrival we found the waterway was running clear and there were no obvious signs the water had been polluted,” he says. “Officers tested the pH levels of the water and found it to be within the normal range. “At this stage it is not clear what caused the eels to die, however further testing will continue further upstream and downstream.” According to the Department of Conservation (DoC), there are two main types of eel in New Zealand, the shortfin and longfin. Longfin eels can be found throughout the country. “There are fewer eels today because of the loss of wetlands and historical commercial fishing
practice,” DoC says. “Currently the commercial eel fishery is managed by the Ministry for Primary Industries under the quota management system.” Longfin eels live mainly in rivers and inland lakes but can be found in almost all types of waters, usually well inland from the coast, according to DoC. People with information on what may have caused the death of dozens of eels in a waterway in Huntington Park can phone Auckland Council on 301 0101 and give the reference number 8110363397. The Department of Conservation has been contacted for comment.
HEALTH
MPs fight for medical service By CHRIS HARROWELL
E
ast Auckland’s two local MPs have launched a petition in an effort to keep East Care Accident and Medical’s long-running overnight service operating. Pakuranga MP Simeon Brown and Botany MP Christopher Luxon say they’re disappointed the medical centre in Botany Road “has been put into a position where they have to close their 24/7 overnight service”. The 11pm-7am service has been operating for more than 20 years
but ceased on December 18. East Care Group chief executive Gordon Armstrong says it’s a move “taken with enormous regret”. “We know better than most there is a significant need for the service we have been offering and that it’s highly prized within the community. “But we have found ourselves increasingly caught between a rock and a hard place, to the point where we can no longer provide a safe and high-quality overnight operation.” Brown and Luxon say East Care
has been self-funding the overnight service for the past two years since Counties Manukau District Health Board cut its funding. They say they will write to the health board’s chief executive, Margie Apa, to ask to meet with her to raise the community’s concerns and to request funding be reinstated urgently so the overnight service can be re-established. “We would like to thank East Care for their commitment to providing the overnight service to east Auckland and the fact they have been subsidising this service for
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the past two years without funding from our DHB,” the MPs say. “East Care is a critical part of the east Auckland community which has gone above and beyond this year, particularly with Covid-19. “East Auckland is now the only area in Auckland without an overnight service, despite having over 130,000 people and one of the fastest growing populations in New Zealand.” Brown and Luxon say the overnight service is “critically important” to the local community. It’s the highest volume provid-
er of overnight primary care in Auckland, they say. “Its closure will also certainly have a significant impact on the accident and emergency department at Middlemore Hospital.” Armstrong says the overnight service got off the ground without external funding. In 2014 the DHB gave it financial support as a regional initiative to provide access to overnight care and maintain financial viability in the face of increasing healthcare costs. The DHB reversed course in 2018. ➤ Turn to page 3
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