On Monday 10th of March the Taramea Operation on Atiu was underway. The joint collaborative efforts between key stake-holders on the Island consisting of the Atiu Island Government (AIG), Ministry of Marine Resources (MMR) and also our National Environment Services (NES) along-side the Island People of Atiu.
The operation led by our Island Government Executive Officer (EO) Mr Taoro Brown, who played a very important role of coordinating between the stake-holders and village Council members had things underway with no time wasted, as he realizes the threat that the Taramea will pose to our ecosystem. Protecting our reefs was a priority as the EO recognizes how heavily dependent we are with utilizing the Oceans resources as this provides food security for many families within our communities.
A two day operation was set out, with the first areas being from the Taunganui Harbour heading north bound towards Eketangaroa Landing and second area was heading south from the harbour towards Tetau Landing which is the Southern point of the Island.
We had 2 team involving the Dive team which scaled beyond the reefs, diving ocean floor between 10 and 15 meters in depth and the Reef team which walked the entire reefs from North to South on day one. The total Taramea collected on day one was a total of 72, which majority of this where collected by the dive team.
The second day had the teams focus from the southern point of the Island Teatu Landing, with the Reef teams working their way towards a team which also started from the north east landing of Tarapaku working their way towards each other.
Our count for this day had differed as the concentration of the Taramea’s presence weren’t as much as the western side of the Island, totaling of only 5 that where collected through-out day 2 this bringing our total number of Taramea collected to 77 for the 2 day operation.
As at the end of each day of our 2 day operation our Mama’s from within the villages had the responsibilities of providing side dishes (Kinaki), the famous Atiu taro, maniota (arrow root) and most importantly the fresh moina tai (coconut cream) for the tinned canned meals that where sponsored through the various donors.
Words of gratitude were expressed by our Executive Officer, thanking everyone that made this possible through the various helping hands from all over the Island, with also many thanks to the NES and MMR for the joint effort in sponsorships in assisting the operation
