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    Published 4 September 2012 Referencing Hub media
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    Dr Shaun Ogilvie, Dave Hamon and Larn Wilkinson tell us about their work in a collaborative study involving Cawthron, the Hauraki Māori Trust Board and local iwi1. The focus of this study is to determine the risk of tetrodotoxin2 in seafood that people are harvesting.

    Transcript

    DR SHAUN OGILVIE
    In 2009 when the toxic3 sea slugs were discovered on the beaches, one of the first groups that were concerned about this were tangata whenua4 – Māori. They were concerned about whether the toxin5 tetrodotoxin could be in seafood, and so we made a general approach to the iwi in the region around the Hauraki Gulf, and the Hauraki Māori Trust Board were very keen to join in a collaborative study. And together with the Cawthron Institute, we looked for funding and were able to start doing this study.

    The key concerns for the Hauraki Māori Trust Board initially was really just the risk of there being tetrodotoxin in the seafood that people were harvesting and what the risks of tetrodotoxin would be for people that are consuming the seafood – the kaimoana6.

    To address the concerns of the Hauraki Māori Trust Board in terms of the tetrodotoxin, we worked together to set up a sampling survey of kaimoana species7. And we actually set up one of their local people, Dave Hamon, who’s been out sampling pretty much all the kaimoana species that are most commonly eaten. He’s been sampling those every month and couriering them same day to Nelson where they’ve been analysed for tetrodotoxin content.

    DAVE HAMON
    So I’m just here just employed by the Trust Board collecting these samples for this sea slug operation.

    I’m gonna point out some of the kai that we usually harvest for kai and that – every day, people come down the beach – and usually it’s pipis, I’ve got samples of these, and of course we’ve got the oysters, the tio, that’s another favourite kai. Then we got the cockles, the tuangis, and then of course there’s kūtai here, mussels,

    You got ones like starfish that I’m also sampling as well and of course you’ve got the pūpū atamarama, the cats’ eyes. Some people do eat these.

    DR SHAUN OGILVIE
    In terms of the results of the study, we have a hui8 with the local people. We reported back that we’d had positive results in the pipi samples and also reported back a risk analysis around the amount that was in the pipi samples. We said to them to really not eat a whole lot in one go, kind of 500 grams at the most. And they were quite happy that was within the realms of what people would be eating anyway.

    LARN WILKINSON
    The collaboration9 with Cawthron is huge for us, because from what we’ve seen already from the studies they’ve done, we’ve identified the poison10 when it’s most prevalent, when it’s not so common amongst our shores. And because of how toxic it is, it starts to show us that this is important not only to the people who use the moana but also for our kaimoana. We’ve seen it go across into bivalves11 as well, which is of high concern because our people eat a lot of bivalves such as the pipi and so forth. But from here, if we can increase the funding or get more funding to continue this, we’ll then be able to hopefully identify a way of starting to control12 this and slow it down amongst our moana.

    Acknowledgements:
    Sarah Hailes, NIWA Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
    Wildfish Export Ltd
    Hauraki Māori Trust Board

    1. iwi: Māori tribe or large community, often consisting of several hapū (clans) bound together by common ancestors.
    2. tetrodotoxin (TTX): A potent neurotoxin with no known antidote.
    3. toxic: Poisonous and harmful.
    4. tangata whenua: A Māori term that literally means ‘people of the land’, used to refer to Māori as the indigenous people of New Zealand.
    5. toxin: A poisonous substance that is a specific product of the metabolic activities of a living organism.
    6. kaimoana: Māori word for seafood.
    7. species: (Abbreviation sp. or spp.) A division used in the Linnean system of classification or taxonomy. A group of living organisms that can interbreed to produce viable offspring.
    8. hui: Māori word for a gathering, meeting or assembly.
    9. collaboration: Working together with a common purpose.
    10. poison: A substance that, through its chemical action, usually kills, injures or impairs an organism.
    11. bivalve: 1. Any mollusk, of the class Bivalvia, which has a soft body within two hinged-shells. Examples include mussels, oysters and scallops. 2. Having two similar parts hinged together.
    12. control: 1. Part of a scientific experiment in which no treatment has been applied in order to see whether there are any detectable differences to the experiment that did receive a treatment. 2. To hold in check or to curb.
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      iwi

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    2. Māori tribe or large community, often consisting of several hapū (clans) bound together by common ancestors.

      tangata whenua

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    4. A Māori term that literally means ‘people of the land’, used to refer to Māori as the indigenous people of New Zealand.

      species

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    6. (Abbreviation sp. or spp.) A division used in the Linnean system of classification or taxonomy. A group of living organisms that can interbreed to produce viable offspring.

      poison

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    8. A substance that, through its chemical action, usually kills, injures or impairs an organism.

      tetrodotoxin (TTX)

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    10. A potent neurotoxin with no known antidote.

      toxin

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    12. A poisonous substance that is a specific product of the metabolic activities of a living organism.

      hui

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    14. Māori word for a gathering, meeting or assembly.

      bivalve

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    16. 1. Any mollusk, of the class Bivalvia, which has a soft body within two hinged-shells. Examples include mussels, oysters and scallops.

      2. Having two similar parts hinged together.

      toxic

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    18. Poisonous and harmful.

      kaimoana

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    20. Māori word for seafood.

      collaboration

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    22. Working together with a common purpose.

      control

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    24. 1. Part of a scientific experiment in which no treatment has been applied in order to see whether there are any detectable differences to the experiment that did receive a treatment.

      2. To hold in check or to curb.