The purpose of this assessment is to compare records of known inanga spawning sites in the waterways of Ōtautahi Christchurch from before and after the Canterbury earthquakes, with particular emphasis on information used in the design of planning methods for spawning site protection.
Overall the results indicate that spawning is taking place in different locations from the prequake pattern. Although egg survival was not measured in this study, sites in new locations may be vulnerable to current or future land-use activities that are incompatible with spawning success. Consequently, there are considerable management implications associated with this spatial shift, primarily relating to riparian management. In particular, there is a need to control threats to spawning sites and achieve protection for the areas involved. This is required under the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2010 and is a prominent objective in a range of other polices and plans.