Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

Trout Anglers Want Whitebait and Eels “De-commercialised”


15th November 2018


A trout and rivers advocacy group the NZ Federation of Freshwater Anglers want native fish in whitebait and eels largely de-commercialised. Federation president Graham Carter spoke out in support of the Forest and Bird Society who recently said whitebait should not be for sale.

“I applaud Forest and Bird for raising the matter as its obvious human nature being what it is, that when the quick buck enters into it, ethics and common-sense go out the back door," he said.

Graham Carter said over the last decade trout anglers had several times advocated “de-commercialising" whitebait and eels because of the two species' declining populations. Trout anglers were conservationists at heart as shown by forthright protests against pollution and water extraction from rivers.

“I’m delighted Forest and Bird have taken up the call,” he said. There were numerous cases of city persons taking large quantities of West Coast whitebait and ferrying hundreds of kilograms back to the urban areas where they were sold “under the counter” and for cash thus avoiding tax.

"In some cases a group of urban whitebaiters were making $60,000 to $80,000 for a couple of months plundering".

A daily bag limit of 3-4 kilogram more or less - dependent on the region - should be implemented.

Graham Carter said at times farming representatives and extreme green groups wrongly blamed trout of preying on whitebait showing a lack of understanding of food chains.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

“Whitebait was plentiful 40 years ago, a century after the introduction of trout. The decline has been very marked in modern times with habitat loss, a wave of toxic farm and pest chemicals in the ecosystem and de facto commercial fishing. Anglers have also noted declining eel numbers and have publicly expressed concern.

Yet we even had a deluded Federated Farmers councillor dairy farmer in the Manawatu calling trout predatory monsters,” he said. “Trout have been here for over 150 years and Nature established ecological predator-prey relationships. Whitebait was still abundant over a century after trout introductions.”

He said the two key issues causing declines in whitebait and eels were environmental habitat degradation and commercial fishing plus bogus recreational fishing of whitebait.

Dairy farming expansion and large scale forestry had resulted in a combination of lessened river flows, contamination of water with nitrate leaching from large scale corporate dairying plus chemicals used today and heavy silt deposition in streams and rivers after clear felling of pine forests.

ends

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines



Gordon Campbell: On Dune 2, And Images Of Islam


Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture tends to be hostile to Islam when we’re sitting in the dark, with popcorn.
Any number of movie examples come to mind, beginning with Rudolf Valentino’s role (over a century ago) as the romantic Arab hero in The Sheik...
More


 
 


Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track

The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More

ALSO:


Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More

ALSO:

Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.