The Government will fund research into toxic sea slugs which killed two dogs on North Shore beaches last winter.
The slugs, which contain the tetrodotoxin poison also found in puffer fish, have plagued North Shore beaches, and were discovered for the first time on an Auckland City beach last week.
Minister of Research, Science and Technology Wayne Mapp today announced $250,000 funding over two years to research the toxic slugs and determine if harvesting seafood from the Hauraki Gulf posed any risks.
"They are already a danger to people and their pets. We need to know whether they are a wider threat to seafood."
The project would be the first research into tetrodotoxin since its discovery on North Shore beaches last year.
The Nelson-based Cawthron Institute would collaborate with the Hauraki Maori Trust Board to carry out the research.
It would be funded through Nga pae o te Maramatanga, which facilitates projects deemed important to Maori.
"This research is a significant project not only to Maori but also regionally, nationally and internationally," Dr Mapp said.
Toxic slugs have been found this winter near Long Bay, Browns Bay, Narrowneck Beach, Cheltenham, and Bayswater on the North Shore.
Last week they were also found on Kohimarama Beach -- the first time they have been found on an Auckland City beach, on the south side of the Waitemata Harbour.
Tetrodotoxin was found in the vomit of two dogs which died last winter after visiting North Shore beaches.
It was not established whether those dogs had eaten the slugs, but several other dogs which became ill last winter were known to have eaten them.
