Ikawai freshwater fishes in Māori culture and economy (2011) by R.M. McDowall

Abstract

This beautifully produced work will be a crucial reference for many generations of not only fisheries scientists but also for so many of us amateurs who work with awe and respect in the realm of freshwater.  It is thanks largely to the work of Bob McDowall and his scientific associates that New Zealanders now (should) know that their beloved delicacy, whitebait is fry derived from five species of galaxiidas.      The primary purpose of this book is more holistic, more cultural than scientific, than anything McDowall had ever attempted. It represents an attempt to resurrect comprehensively in book form the evolving wisdom (matauranga Māori) of tangata whenua (‘the people of the land') of freshwater customary use and practice from the widest range of sources.