Tangaroa Ararau is a research project delivered by Awatea Consulting and Whāia Legal as part of Sustainable Sea's National Science Challenge. It explores the myriad relationships within Aotearoa New Zealand’s oceans economy and reimagines a governance system that places Tangaroa at its heart. Built upon a foundation of tikanga Māori and Te Tiriti o Waitangi, it aims to reshape our approach to the oceans, in a uniquely Aotearoa way.

Uhi Tai refers to the ascending tides of Tangaroa. An often-heard phrase in waiata, karakia, and haka. Uhi Tai symbolises the oncoming tides of new perspectives capturing our diverse and complex relationships with the ocean, washing over the entrenched worldview that shaped Aotearoa's incumbent approach to the ocean.