A taonga/treasure species and iconic mahinga kai/food resource. For early Māori it was a lifeline, eaten fresh but also dried and preserved for winter sustenance; a specialty of Māori from Kaiapoi and Te Waihora/Lake Ellesmere. Tuna are one of Aotearoa/New Zealand's most resilient native fish species and can live over 200 years.
He taonga, he mahinga kai tūturu. Ki ngā Māori o mua he oranga, i kai i te wā i hopukina, i whakamaroke, i pakapaka hoki hei ō i a Makariri; he tino ki ngā Māori nō Kaiapoi, nō Te Waihora hoki. Ko te tuna tētahi o ngā ika tino manawaroa ki Aotearoa, ā i ētahi wā ka 200 tau neke atu te pakeke.
