MY TUNA REPORT

TUNA REPORT

Opening statement.

The Eel’s scientific name is Anguilliformes but in maori it is called a Tuna. There are two main types of eels one is longfin and shortfin. Eels are known to be freshwater wish and the loses of eels is coz by wetlands.

Appearance

When eels a little babys they are only a millimetre in length and as they grow up the eels can grow up to two metres long.Eels have smooth heads but when eels grow up their heads become bulbous (fat and round or bulging). Eels have scales and fins. The longfin eels have colored eyes that can be dark brown or grey black eye color. As eels grow up their head become more slender and tapered almost bullet like.

Breeding

When longfin eels are ready to breed the longfin leave New Zealand and then they swim all the way to the subtropical pacific ocean to breed. Once the longfin eels breed that's the only time they can then die. The female longfin eel lay millions of eggs and then die but the baby eels swim in the sea and then they find its way back home.

Diet

The longfin eels can feed on insects,larvae,worms and water snails but as they grow up and get bigger they start feeding on bigger fish,freshwater crayfish,even small birds and ducklings.

Habitat

Longfin eels can be found all thought New Zealand and in lakes,creeks,rivers and islands from the cost and you can find baby eels that have come from the pacific ocean try to swim up streams or up water falls.

Closing statement

Longfin eels can live up to 25 to 80 years old until they breed then die but the shortfin eels live up to 15 to 18 years and people should not eat longfin eels because they are toxic inside of them.There are a big loss of longfin eels because it is from the big loss of wetlands.

MY HINAKI

HINAKI REPORT

Opening Statement

A hinaki is an old type of maori Eel/Tuna trap that was used back when there was no cars or Technology that we have now.Hinaki was mainly used to trap Eel/Tuna inside and it was used to feed their family.

When to use the hinaki

A hinaki is to be used at night because all the Eel/Tuna come out and hunt for it’s prey.When you put the hinaki in the creek or river make sure it faces down steam not up steam.So the Eel/Tuna can seem the bait when it goes down steam.

Types of Hinaki

A large type of hinaki, called hinaki tarino, was used in the Waikato River and its tributaries.

The hinaki waharua had an entrance at each end – waharua means ‘two mouths’.They were set in deep rivers or in lagoons. Temporary waharua were sometimes made of flax leaves and used in the Manawatu River.Neither of these were used with eel weirs.   

How to make hinaki.

Hinaki is handmade you weave it with flax it is handmade from our ancestors and then brought down to us.The best Hinaki was a work of art.A normal Hinaki was called Hinaki tukutuku and it only had one entrance.

Bait you should use

Hinaki were used with bait – often worms, or even birds. Bait was put in a small pot called a pu toke, which looked like a miniature hinaki, or a small flax bag called a torehe. At other times it was tied inside the hinaki. The Ngati Porou people would thread earthworms on a string and tie them to a piece of flax flower stalk, which floated inside the trap.

Hīnaki at eel weirs were used without bait.

Closing statement

Hinaki are meant to catch eels because it is a eel trap but really some people just put it on the wall to make it art and other people use it for hang up for a light shade.