Life on the harbour
50 years floundering on the Kaipara Moana…in the best possible way.
2025 has provided a double whammy for Peter and Christine Yardley.
Not only have they celebrated 50 years of marriage but they have also hit the impressive milestone of fishing commercially on the Kaipara Harbour for five decades also - something Peter considers an absolute privilege.
Along with his wife Christine, the Whakapirau man has seen the extreme decline of the Kaipara Harbour over the decades and has been an active champion amongst other landowners working to reverse that trend.
At the same time, the couple have been part of a movement to encourage people to plant, waterways, wetlands and steeper hillsides of low producing pasture in natives.
Now Peter says those efforts are paying off in a much healthier harbour where fish life – including “schnapper” stocks - is again starting to flourish.
A quick trip down the hill from the Yardley’s 4ha lifestyle block to Whakapirau village reveals white sand returning to the shoreline where just a few years ago it was covered in silt.
For Peter, it is a most uplifting turn around for the health of the Southern Hemisphere’s largest harbour, one that has provided a living for the Yardley’s which has allowed them to raise five children – one of whom Dylan, is continuing the fishing legacy as Peter winds down.
“The Kaipara Harbour itself is a massive drawcard if you are a water person or just like water colours for sheer enjoyment. All the little communities around the Kaipara Harbour and Kaipara District are amazing. Whakapirau is a classic example where people look after each other and have so much fun together.”
Peter’s hunting and gathering has fed tens of thousands of Kiwis over the years.
The calculation is pretty much two to three flounder equals 1kg of food, explains Peter, who adds that to chase them into nets he takes his boat to the shallows of mudflats creeks and areas of mangroves and splashes the water. That’s the old traditional way of catching.
Peter has extremely fond memories of the solace he has experienced over his years on the Kaipara Harbour. He would commonly sleep on his boat for three or four nights to ensure he kept a keen eye on his catch and to save time and money on travel and fuel.
The peace he has experienced being so connected to the Moana is powerful.
Working on the largest enclosed harbour in the Southern Hemisphere is not something Peter takes for granted. Nor does son Dylan, who has taken on the reins to keep the Yardley legacy going while also helping plant native trees on the family’s four-hectare lifestyle block minutes up the hill from Whakapirau village.
Looking at the land now, it has hard to comprehend it was once an abandoned piece of land with 15 big bulls on it pugging the soil to mud as deep as your knees, while also stomping through native bush and ponds. That is no more with thousands of natives now planted and plenty of areas fenced off from the threat of cattle.
Meantime, Peter and Dylan’s fishing mantra is that of Tiaki, which they describe as something of a guardianship of the Kaipara Harbour where they believe they have an obligation to leave it in better health than they found it. The six-metre long home-made, hand-made boats are called Tiaki and Koru, both of which tow tenders with all the fishing gear onboard.
“Our aim is always to provide the best quality flounder in New Zealand that we possible can but always with a firm focus on sustainable environmental and fishing practices.”
That comes from respect which is a lesson Peter learnt decades ago when he and Christine first moved to the area in the early 1970s.
Working on farms and on the water, Peter says it was evident better environmental care was needed and while it took time those efforts are firmly entrenched in and around the Kaipara Moana which can only be good for fish life.
“Our aim is always to provide the best quality flounder in New Zealand that we possible can but always with a firm focus on sustainable environmental and fishing practices,” says Peter, who cites the efforts of local iwi and farmers and lifestylers over the past 30-years working hard to repair the environment.
“There is something special about flounder which people connect with. People really like them – that’s for sure. Fishing is our life and Dylan loves the industry just like me. Our fish go to top restaurants in New Zealand and overseas markets because all our fish are high quality and we have no rejects. When we come home from fishing, our nets and our catch come home too, so there is no waste.”
And Peter believes children and grandchildren are the future in being enviro-guardians of the Kaipara Moana to keep it in increasingly good health, just as Ngāti Whātua has led the way for so long. Riparian planting around the Harbour is now the norm and lifestylers continue to lead the charge as they move in.
Looking back, Peter says the efforts of Willie Wright, the late Bill Worsfold and others were critical in change but because so many farmers love fishing, it was also easy to get them on board!
They willingly cut down on nitrogen applications, kept stock away from beaches, stopped grazing to the low tide mark and continued planting natives wherever practical and affordable – in and around native bush blocks, swamps, near the foreshore and on the edge of waterways.
With the Kaipara Moana Remediation Programme coming to the fore in recent years - with its firm focus on reducing sedimentation in the Kaipara Moana, the additional environmental injection and passion from the KMR team (under the guidance of KMR Pou Tātaki Justine Daw) - has been immense.
Peter and Christine acknowledge the immensity of the journey all parties have been on but they are proud to have been part of something incredibly special.
“I can see progress strong enough to believe the Kaipara Harbour is once again on the cusp of thriving.”
Peter’s message to others thinking of relocating to the Kaipara is very clear.
“The Kaipara Harbour itself is a massive drawcard if you are a water person or just like water colours for sheer enjoyment. All the little communities around the Kaipara Harbour and Kaipara District are amazing. Whakapirau is a classic example where people look after each other and have so much fun together.
We lived in the village for 40-odd years and our hearts are still there.”