Early Māori Settlement in Auckland CBD

The value of no-take marine protected areas (MPAs) in providing fisheries-independent information to evaluate the status of adjacent fish stocks is increasingly being recognised. However, to ensure robust assessments of fisheries using this approach, MPAs need to be representative of the wider fished area and sampling should include multiple MPA and fished locations spanning the area of interest. The spiny lobster Jasus edwardsii fishery in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Hauraki Gulf has been in decline since the late 1990s, but latest stock estimates suggest a dramatic recovery following catch reductions in 2018. We compared J. edwardsii populations on shallow reefs (<20 m depth) in three marine reserves with six fished locations across the Hauraki Gulf to provide a fisheries-independent assessment of this important fishery and the degree of recovery following catch reductions. Region-wide surveys found that J. edwardsii populations within protected areas were dominated by large, legal-size individuals, whereas lobster in fished locations were mostly below or around legal-size. Total, vulnerable, and spawning stock biomass was 12-43 times higher within MPAs compared to fished locations. Overall, biomass at fished locations was <10% of that in reserves and there was little evidence of recovery following catch reductions. Our fisheries-independent data suggest that recent stock assessments have severely overestimated the recovery and state of lobster populations in the Hauraki Gulf and that populations on shallow reefs remain depleted. These findings highlight the critical need for fisheries-independent data and the value of MPA monitoring data in evaluating population status and recovery following fisheries management actions.

Purpose This paper aims to identify the impact that commute patterns pose on construction labour productivity (CLP). There is limited research focussed on the impact of workforce transportation on productivity, even fewer in a construction environment. In particular, this study seeks to fill a gap in the understanding of how commute patterns may influence CLP. Design/methodology/approach Key factors reported affecting CLP were identified through a comprehensive literature review. Data were collected from 27 interviews and observational evidence at construction sites on Auckland Central Business District (CBD). Findings Shortage of skills, communication among workers, shirking behaviour, absenteeism and tardiness were perceived as the most critical labour productivity factors that are influenced by commute patterns. It is considered that stressful commutes may lead to shirking behaviours (absenteeism and calling sick). Meanwhile, ridesharing may encourage communication among workers. Research limitations/implications The study was carried out in a central business district, focussing on a geographic area with its particular characteristics. The results, thus, may not be generalised in general urban settings. Originality/value The research outcomes can be used as guidelines for companies considering travel plans for their employees, to minimise the negative impact commuting can have on workers, especially in industries with low productivity.

There is no disputing the fact that Auckland Central Business District (C.B.D) is well positioned within the multinational corporate world community. Walking through the streets of Auckland’s C.B.D one could be anywhere throughout the world as the corporate branding of the world famous companies within the C.B.D are indicative to each other regardless of the country. I work in Auckland’s C.B.D area and on my to work each morning I travel through one of New Zealand poorest areas of NZ, Otara, South Auckland, which has a large percentage of Pacifica residents and has one of the highest unemployment figures in NZ. It is travelling through this town on a daily bases that made me notice how the local businesses are designing and displaying their signage within this small community town and how it has become a synonymous branding, not on a corporate level but more of a community level and one that sits comfortably with the local people. The aim in this paper is to document and examine examples of signage from these poor areas of South Auckland and to point out the subtleties or difference’s from these; in most cases hand produced signage, which is functional but lacks in the traditional form of typographical design, which is well documented in the corporate world. This research project will outline some of the findings that I have encountered on my journey and how important it is to maintain a sense of community within areas such as these.

**Abstract:** As a hotspot of seabird diversity, the Hauraki Gulf in Northern Aotearoa New Zealand is spoilt for choice when looking at seabirds as indicators of change in the marine environment. However, little research has been done on some of the most ubiquitous species that forage within the Gulf and have the greatest potential for tracking change in the nearshore marine environment. This research addresses this lack of data by linking environmental variables and energetic inputs with the physiology, movement, and breeding success of common Procellariiform species within the region. Part of the initial phase of this project has involved following the northernmost population of Fairy prions (Pachyptila turtur) on the Poor Knights Islands throughout the year, including the first insight into their migration movements, the nature of their foraging during the breeding season and physiological adjustments to ensure breeding success. By repeating this study over three years and investigating the interplay of environmental conditions and physiology, we plan to unravel the relationships between the breeding success of these birds and fluctuations in the marine environment. Results from the first two seasons will be presented. **Authors:** Edin Whitehead¹, Chris Gaskin², Brendon Dunphy¹ ¹University of Auckland, ²Northern New Zealand Seabird Trust

ABSTRACTEstimating population size is challenging for species that occur at low densities and are difficult to detect during sampling. Challenges are further intensified by climate and anthropogenic impacts causing phenological mismatches for populations of conservation concern. In Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ), Bryde's whales (Balaenoptera brydei) are listed as Nationally Critical—numbering less than 250 mature individuals—in part due to previous vulnerabilities to vessel‐strike mortality. This population exemplifies the challenges associated with estimating abundance of a rare and elusive species. It is a small population distributed widely throughout northeastern NZ, where prior estimates have focused only on whales sighted in a core habitat—the Hauraki Gulf (‘the Gulf’). Here, we estimated Bryde's whale abundance in the Gulf over 10 years (2014–2023) using opportunistic photo‐identification data. We also expanded the dataset to include whales sighted 200 km north of the Gulf. To account for complex residency patterns, we developed a custom‐formulated POPAN model incorporating transience to estimate the total number of whales. Based on photo‐identification data corrected for mark rate, annual estimates ranged from 80 whales in 2014 (95% CI: 60–102) to 67 whales in 2023 (95% CI: 45–97). The superpopulation estimate (2014–2023) was 161 whales, with 30% estimated as transients. Including individuals from the wider area revealed connectivity, suggesting a single population. Despite no vessel‐strike mortality since 2014, abundance did not increase as anticipated. Over the same period, multiple marine heatwaves occurred in the Gulf with a concomitant shift in Bryde's distribution. We suggest our estimate reflects climate‐induced shifts beyond the inner Gulf or reduced carrying capacity in a degraded habitat. Our study highlights the necessity of accounting for drivers of change when estimating abundance of endangered species.

Exploring tertiary students' travel mode choices in Auckland: Insights and policy implications

This paper is motivated by recent debates about marine spatial planning (MSP) and a blue economy, pushed worldwide for marine and coastal transitions but discussed by critical scholars as potentially facilitating a neoliberalization of the seas. It engages with an MSP project initiated in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, to formally bargain for a better socionatural state of the Hauraki Gulf Tīkapa Moana (Sea Change Tai Timu Tai Pari, 2013–2016). The paper is interested in the way ethics—proper ways of living—are being problematized and (re)claimed in MSP, and their role in remapping the land/seascape, its socionature and power relations. I employ and develop urban ethics as a research agenda, which draws together a diverse scope of work, in particular post-political theory, neoliberal forms of governing and ethicization, ontological pluralism and (re)centering alternative/non-hegemonic ethicalities. By disentangling the problematizations, naturalcultural imaginaries and governmentalities in 21 in-depth interviews, I identify four distinct but interwoven discursive strands in regard to the MSP. Two strands stand out as they problematize ethics as a means of change. The paper finds transformative potential in a mode of disruption and progressive alternatives to neoliberal beliefs and governmentality, primarily in the (re)centering of non-normative Māori ethicality and knowledge. The paper reveals ethics as a major dimension in environmental bargaining within a neoliberal urban context. Its nuanced understanding of ethics shows ethics’ destabilizing role in environmental bargaining, its role in disrupting power structures and colonizing framings, and in supporting alternative imaginations of socionatural land/sea relations.

ABSTRACTThis article engages with near‐shore coastal co‐management in the Hauraki Gulf Tīkapa Moana, Aotearoa New Zealand. I analysed various qualitative sources to demonstrate how Ahu Moana (ocean care areas) as a specific form of localism was translated on the side of the local community on Waiheke Island, Auckland. A specific assemblage of marine care emerged alongside a re‐conceptualisation of the local community and a remapping of the Gulf as a relational care network. The article suggests that the attempt to realise Ahu Moana shows decolonising tendencies and challenges existing power structures. However, new patterns of inclusion and exclusion also emerged.

International alarm at the deteriorating conditions of the planet’s ocean has grown over recent decades amid hesitation of many countries to develop responses. Aotearoa New Zealand’s experience is a unique window for probing the challenges of directing coastal and place-based responses towards managing ocean outcomes and futures. When European colonists reached Aotearoa’s shores, they met an archipelago geography of diverse ecologies and dispersed coastal occupancy by the indigenous peoples, collectively referred to as Māori (meaning ‘normal’). Living by customs and practices Māori attended to the mauri (life force), including the environmental health of water for immediate livelihood and future generations. The colonist’s individualised property-centred worldview meant they saw natural resources as open access, which led to ocean and land resources being used to produce for profit. This mindset clashed with the established Māori worldview that prioritised a way of thinking, interacting, and behaving with the environment and kin, to achieve spiritual and physical well-being. Conceptualising broad phases of privatisation and resulting destruction of the Māori way of life gives insight into the pre-conditions of contemporary natural resource use contestation. Two institutional innovations, the Treaty of Waitangi Commission (1972-) and then the Treaty Settlement process (1992-), reset the mix of actors and terms of engagement in Aotearoa’s Ocean. The paper’s methodology addresses the historical conjuncture between dominant privatising influences causing ocean harm from economic activities and a reassertion by Māori of community and collective initiatives seeking restorative outcomes. By framing a relationality of privatising-collectivising processes and examining enactive agency the competing worldviews of colonists and Māori, and motivations and contested investment decisions of different interests, are highlighted. The methodology probes participatory processes which emerged as evidence-gatherers and knowledge-generating tools making visible grounded actor-centred politics and power moves by investors over their choices and directions. Three Aotearoa Ocean settings, the Kaipara Harbour, Hauraki Gulf and coastal Kaikoura, are examined. Two primary findings emerge. First, ocean water has gradually become ‘the’ object of localised interests and action in each study context. Second, evidence indicates steady reprioritising of environment over economy at many levels. Both developments continue to meet opposition from primarily private interests who are reluctant to recognise, accept, or ameliorate the externalities for the ocean of their natural resource uses and behaviours.

Research on urban morphology is essential for both the management of existing urban landscapes and the creation of new urban form. Morphological ideas developed by M.R.G. Conzen provide a basis for conceptual reconstruction of the urban development process and regionalization of the urban landscape. The city of Auckland is undergoing rapid transformation especially in its central area. Though much has been written about the economic development, transportation, environmental management and urban design of the Central Business District (CBD) of Auckland, the physical characteristics of that area have not been investigated in depth. By applying a Conzenian approach, particularly the concept of morphological regionalization, this article investigates the physical fabric of Auckland's CBD. Recognition of the historical stratification of this physical fabric provides an important basis for an integrated framework for planning, urban design and urban landscape management.

Source apportionment of air pollutants in the Greater Auckland Region of New Zealand using receptor models and elemental levels in the lichen, Parmotrema reticulatum

ABSTRACTThis study assesses the effectiveness of the lichen Parmotrema reticulatum as a biomonitor of potentially harmful elements (PHEs) in the atmosphere of Auckland. Samples were collected over a period of 12 months from 21 sampling stations. Once a month, lichens were collected from a ‘clean site’ outside the Auckland urban area and transplanted to 20 sites in the Auckland central business district (CBD). In each occasion, the transplanted lichens were exposed for a period of 1 month at the designated sites. The samples were retrieved for element analysis using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. On the whole, the lichens transplanted to the Auckland CBD sites accumulated significantly higher concentrations of Al, Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Sb, Pb, Th, V and Zn than the reference site. The results suggest that P. reticulatum has the ability to accumulate PHEs and detect changes in air quality.

The inherent nature of wireless networks exposes them to cyber threats. To keep this critical technology from attacks, advancements in security standards demand simultaneous outspread of their awareness among people. Periodic evaluation of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) security status in any given region recognizes the awareness trends and sets directions for concerned authorities. This research studies the prevailing security practices of WLANs in Auckland Central Business District (CBD), to describe the course of their alertness with respect to similar studies done in 2007 and 2013. Raspberry Pi 2 Model B is used for research to provide a basis for comparison and reference for future relevant studies. The results are significant from commercial perspective.

This paper examines a case study of the SkyCabs system as a way to alleviate some of the traffic problems of Auckland, New Zealand. SkyCabs is an elevated two-way monobeam carrying light eight-seater cabs on tracks on each side of the beam, available on demand, providing fast, pollution-free, unimpeded travel above the footpath with panoramic views of the city. The aim of this study is to investigate the attractiveness of implementing the SkyCabs system to and from Auckland central business district (CBD) and Auckland international airport by examining four variables: different routes, different number of stops/stations, different passenger demand levels, and different number of cabs in the system. The analysis utilizes geographical information system and simulation tools for the various scenarios considered. The results show that it is possible to assess the cost–benefit of alternative routes in terms of those four variables and rate of return on investment.

Marine resources exploitation by Palaeolithic hunter-fisher-gatherers and Neolithic tribal societies in the historical region of the Strait of Gibraltar