Save our Shellfish

The Long Bay-Okura Marine Reserve in Auckland is covered with dying shellfish - and we need your help to put an end to this. The shellfish beds are decimated and soon the shore birds will be affected as their food sources decline. Marine Reserves are a place for wildlife to live and be protected, not a place to die. This Marine Reserve is a jewel in the crown of the Hauraki Gulf.

Canoe & Kayak has donated $2500.00 to kick off a fundraising campaign to Save our Shellfish.

Your donation will go directly towards helping to raise awareness with the public, developers, Council, and central Government, and contracting specialists for advice, monitoring, testing and technical support, so the Long Bay Okura Great Park Society can continue to help protect this stunning area.

For many years, the Long Bay Okura Great Park Society has fought to protect and preserve the environment around and including the Long Bay Regional Park and the Long Bay Okura Marine Reserve.

Canoe & Kayak and The Roof Rack Centre have proudly supported these efforts with donations and logistical support.

About the Marine Reserve:

The picturesque Okura Estuary at the northern end of the North Shore is one of the last estuaries in Auckland in a natural setting and condition. The estuary provides a nursery environment for an abundance of marine life. The area is also a feeding ground for migratory birds such as the bar-tailed godwits and over 1% of the endangered New Zealand dotterels are seen here. As a paddling and walking destination the Marine Reserve and its surrounds are a treasured resource that countless people from across Auckland, New Zealand, and internationally, enjoy.

Much to the local community’s dismay - the state of the estuary is in decline with increased sedimentation and under continued threat from intensifying land development. Sedimentation has many known negative effects. These include; a decline in the health and reproduction of bottom dwelling organisms such as shellfish and other fish species like snapper, and the expansion of mangroves that leads to changing of the existing habitats for all inhabitants including endangered shore birds, such as New Zealand dotterel.

More information about the dead shellfish: https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/rodney-times/103939634/mass-of-dead-shellfish-line-the-shores-of-an-auckland-marine-reserve