Reefballs in the Water!

5 days ago
3 min read

Key Milestone Achieved: Pilot Program Successfully Deployed

Reefball Being lowered into position aboard Clearwater Resolution

On Wednesday morning February 18; the skipper and crew of the mussel boat Clearwater Resolution went to sea with an unusual payload: twenty tonnes of concrete reef balls and three members of the Mohua Marine Trust.

Skipper, Brian Godsiff was fulfilling a promise made when the trustees completed the pouring of the 20 balls which form the pilot stage of their 420-ball project in the sea near Onekaka. Tasman District Council granted the trust a 35-year resource consent to complete the project.

“We support this project, “ says Brian. “I told the trust before Christmas that, weather and mussel harvest permitting, Clearwater would get the reefballs in the sea as soon as possible.”

Brian and his crew had the 20 reefballs loaded on board when the trust members gathered on Wednesday morning at Tarakohe for a karakia delivered by Eddie Ford, on behalf of Manawhenua ki Mohua.

“Manawhenua has supported this kaupapa, right from the start,” said Eddie before delivering the karakia and a follow-up waiata.

View of the Clearwater Resolution in position just beyond the Onekaka Wharf remains.

“We were lucky that the Clearwater Resolution was available,” says trust member Alan Hughes. “Having access to the heavy lifting equipment on board made the actual deployment quite straightforward in the end”.

Alan’s 60-year career in civil engineering in Auckland and elsewhere has been a godsend for MMT. He drove the construction phase of the first 20 balls.

“Alan was absolutely crucial”, says MMT chair Gene Klein. “He devised the workplan, managed our volunteer workforce and personally attended every pour and every mould release.”

The reef balls were poured in the corner of the Solly’s yard in Takaka and the trust says the support of the company was crucial to their success. Tony Hayes of Sanford’s also organised the transport of the heavy load from Solly’s to Port Tarakohe.

“The port agreed to store the balls until we could deploy them” says trust member Lex Taylor. “Everyone we’ve approached has been more than happy to help.”

Completing the pilot stage puts the trust in a new position. In the near future they will complete a strategic planning process to devise a detailed approach to the massive task remaining.

“We have to scale-up a lot,” say Alan. “And that will require us to raise a significant amount of money. Major funders are out there and we’re confident that our project will attract their support.”

The trust has had patient and loyal support from community members in Mohua Golden Bay and beyond.

“We’ll be contacting everyone who has supported us,” says trust member Neil Wilson. “ We couldn’t have dreamed of getting this far without the help of individuals and groups who were prepared to give us support.”

On Saturday, MMT founding member John Davis put on his wetsuit and went for a dive at the two sites where the balls were deployed.

“Weather and visibility issues meant I couldn't get a clear look at them,” says John. “I’ll go back in a few days.”

John will get video evidence of the beginning of the artificial reef project that the trust believes will eventually transform the sea-bed in the area adjacent to the old Onekaka Wharf. This will please trust member Duan Evans, who manages the trust’s online presence.

“It will be great to have video to upload,” says Duan. “This is the biggest news we’ve had to share in our 5-year history.”

Monitoring the two groups of balls will now commence and gearing up for the major part of the project - casting and deploying 400 Reefballs to complete the artificial Reef project.