Louis Tremblay

Eels are an important species.

It's an iconic species, but also it's an indicator of the health level of an ecosystem.

So if you see eels dying...

So that means that the rest of the ecosystem as well is affected.

So it is a very sad situation.

Heartbreaking is probably the word I want to use to start with.

Why did it get to this stage?

I mean, we're standing beside new water monitoring equipment.

What's the purpose of it and did it do what it is expected to do?

What's happening with the peripheral land?

Has there been any modification or changes to the land use that have

added more complications here.

Oh my God.

They're a taonga species to Māori.

They are an important mahinga kai, so in terms of customary consumption, they're very important.

And then from an ecosystem perspective, they're the top predators demonstrating whether the system is in good health.

Well, there's nothing eating them.

So they're the ones at the top of the food chain.

Yeah, exactly.

They're the lion of that system.