Professor Kura Paul-Burke wins Tangata Kaitiaki / Tiaki Award at the New Zealand Seafood Sustainability and Innovation Awards 2025

We were proud to sponsor the Tangata Kaitiaki / Tiaki Award at this year’s Seafood Sustainability and Innovation Awards, received by Professor Kura Paul-Burke (Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Whakahemo, Ngāti Mākino, Ngāti Pūkeko, Irish). The Tangata Kaitiaki / Tiaki Award recognises strong local environmental guardianship through practices that protect marine ecosystems and vulnerable taonga species and/or advance sustainability knowledge through science, education, and community engagement.

Kura is a marine ecologist with extensive pragmatic and successful experience combining mātauranga Māori and marine science to assist kaitiakitanga (restoration, monitoring, management) priorities for marine taonga species and spaces with coastal hapū and iwi.

As the principal investigator for Pou Rāhui, as part of a recent project, she led reseeding initiatives that released over 80,000 pāua juveniles across Waiheke Island and Whitianga Coastline. Kura also completed research for Mai i ngā Kuri a Whāreiki Tihirau Iwi Fisheries Forum to assess the current state of pāua in the Bay of Plenty, looking at historical changes over time, including maramataka, pāua growth rates, and identifying the size pāua can breed in the wild.

Kura also leads the highly successful mussel restoration initiative in Ōhiwa Harbour. Creating biodegradable mussel spat lines out of dead tī kouka (cabbage tree) leaves to restore a declining green-lipped mussel population from 80,000 in 2019 to an outstanding 45 million mussels thriving on the seafloor in 2024.

Kura also went onto receive the Supreme Sustainability and Innovation Award, for making an outstanding contribution to sustainability and innovation, including a commitment to sharing knowledge with others.