ABSTRACT
The river mouths of New Zealand's wave-dominated mixed sand and gravel coasts (Kirk, 1980) are characterized by a distinctive type of non-estuarine wetland-lagoon system locally known as hapua. Along the east coast of the South Island these lagoons, in conjunction with the coastal lakes called waituna, provide a corridor for migrating birds, ocean-river links for migrating fish and mahinga kai (traditional Māori food and resources) (Kirk and Lauder, 2000; Single and Hemmingsen, 2001).
