Fauna and flora Data

New Zealand has a diverse range of freshwater species. Many of these species are endemic to (only occur in, or only breed in) New Zealand. Freshwater fish and invertebrates are indicator species for the state of our freshwater environment. A decreasing population can indicate that the ecosystem is degrading.

This measure reports on the conservation status of New Zealand's indigenous freshwater fish and invertebrate species, including the number of species that have had a genuine change in conservation status between two monitoring periods (2009–13 and 2005–13). A change in a species’ conservation status reflects a change in its risk of extinction.

Freshwater fish are an important component of freshwater ecosystems, have intrinsic biodiversity values and are a valued resource for Māori, recreational and commercial fishers. The presence or absence of a fish species can be affected by changes in catchment land cover and land use, in-stream habitat, fish passages (routes for moving up and down waterways), pests, and contaminants.

The file contains the information associated with each record in the New Zealand Freshwater Fish Database used in the report, and the associated River Environment Classification information of the location of the observation.

Many of New Zealand’s iconic freshwater fish species are diadromous, which means they need to migrate between fresh water and the ocean to complete their life cycles. Some man-made structures such as culverts, weirs, stormwater pump stations, tide gates, and dams can obstruct diadromous fish migrations and prevent fish from reaching critical habitats.

This can result in the gradual decline and loss of fish species from some rivers, and streams and lakes. Protecting the connection between upstream and downstream habitats of our indigenous fish is as important as protecting their habitats themselves.

We do not yet have enough data to provide a national picture on fish barriers, so we report on known barriers to freshwater fish passage in the Hawke’s Bay region from culverts, weirs, and stormwater pump stations.

Freshwater fish are an important component of freshwater ecosystems and a valued resource for Māori and recreational fishers. The community of fish species found at a site can be affected by changes in catchment land cover and land use, in-stream habitat, fish passages (routes for moving up and down waterways), pests, and contaminants. The fish index of biotic integrity (IBI) is a measure of the condition of fish communities at sites across the country.

This dataset relates to the "Freshwater fish communities" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

Freshwater fish are an important component of freshwater ecosystems, have intrinsic biodiversity values and are a valued resource for Māori, recreational and commercial fishers. The presence of fish species can be affected by changes in catchment land cover and land use, in-stream habitat, fish passages (routes for moving up and down waterways), pests, and contaminants.

File contains predicted capture, including upper and lower confidence intervals for 11 fish species, including indices of native fish, exotic fish, and all fish, over the period 1977 ̶ 2015.

Freshwater fish are an important component of freshwater ecosystems and a valued resource for Māori and recreational fishers. The community of fish species found at a site can be affected by changes in catchment land cover and land use, in-stream habitat, fish passages (routes for moving up and down waterways), pests, and contaminants. The fish index of biotic integrity (IBI) is a measure of the condition of fish communities at sites across the country.

This dataset relates to the "Freshwater fish communities" measure on the Environmental Indicators, Te taiao Aotearoa website.

This dataset summaries backpack electric fishing observations from the New Zealand Freshwater Fish Database for the period 1998 - 2018. It provides the locations and scores for Fish Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) (including sub-metric scores).

Technical report available at www.mfe.govt.nz/publications/environmental-reporti....

More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.

We report on the conservation status and most recent change in status of indigenous (native), resident (breeds in New Zealand) freshwater fish and invertebrates that have been assessed by New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) expert panels.
More information on this dataset and how it relates to our environmental reporting indicators and topics can be found in the attached data quality pdf.