Toheroa

The toheroa occurs only in certain localities on the west coast of the North Island and in Foveaux Strait. Although it has, in the past, been locally very abundant, toheroa populations have been severely declining for the last 30 years and harvesting is now subject to strict controls; the variable ‘close season’ sometimes extends right through the year. Toheroa continues to defy the efforts of scientists to cultivate it and establish this unique bivalve as a form of aquaculture.