Read the signs – local tamariki protecting tuna

Tamariki in Lower Hutt have taken action to safeguard tuna (eels) in the Waiwhetu Stream and spread awareness about this taonga species.

Several tuna from the stream were found dead and injured on nearby roads in 2025, which one of the Naenae Primary School students says made them “really disappointed and sad”.

Demanding tuna in the stream be protected, the students have designed signs approved by Hutt City Council with the support of Cr Andy Mitchell and produced by Greater Wellington.

The school’s Enviroschools facilitator worked with the students to decide how they can take action and while one idea was to “put a robot taniwha in the stream” to defend the tuna the tamariki decided signs would be more cost-effective.

Displayed where the stream runs close to the school, the signs’ final design combines several artworks developed by small groups of the students.

They also display fun facts about tuna, including, “tuna don't have babies until they are about 80 years old”.

Naenae Primary School has been an Enviroschool since 2003, engaging in many Environmental projects. In 2023 they asked for support in learning about freshwater and marine ecosystems and were introduced to the Mountains to Sea Whitebait Connection education programme.

What started with one class participating, quickly extended to a whole syndicate engaged in interactive learning about freshwater ecosystems.

One of the students said the programme taught them that, “if there are no fish or tuna, then the whole eco-system is not in a good condition.”

Another says their “favourite thing about tuna is that they travel all the way to Tonga to lay their eggs, they pass away, then the babies come back to Aotearoa in the currents”.

Secured to bridges in Naenae Park near where the tuna were taken from, the signs’ main message is a simple instruction to help the community preserve this taonga species.

“Do not harm the tuna!”