SDG 14 – Life Below Water , Mataora Wai

Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.

International collaborations

A substantial 69 per cent of Massey University’s 129 SDG14 publications between 2018 and 2022 resulted from international collaborations (Scopus database extracted using SciVal in July 2023).

The most frequently cited papers focused on topics such as the ecological footprint of fisheries on sharks, marine mammal conservation and the impact of Toxoplasma and oil spills on marine ecosystems.

Research published on climate impact on whales

Massey’s Cetacean Ecology Research Group contributed to an international study on how climate change will affect the distribution of great whales in Aotearoa New Zealand waters.

A southerly shift of suitable habitat is expected as the ocean warms.

Citizen scientists identify new fish species

Developed by a Massey PhD student, the Facebook group What's That Fish NZ? receives over 2,500 contributions from citizen scientists of sightings of target fish for their database. Eighteen species of fish, not previously recorded around Aotearoa New Zealand, were identified.

Research funding for marine ecosystems research

MBIE funding from Te Pūnaha Hihiko: Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund was received to develop kaupapa Māori approaches to restoring marine ecosystems degraded due to land-use change and overfishing in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.

MBIE Endeavour Funding of almost $1 million was awarded to Professor Wendi Roe for research that aims to decrease the amount of Toxoplasma entering our waters, also preventing the deaths of the critically endangered Māui dolphin.