Fish& Game says NO
Kiwi anglers are asking the Government to do more research before deciding whether to allow commercial trout farming, amid fears it could decimate a billiondollar industry.
The New Zealand Fish & Game Council voted at the weekend to oppose a controversial recommendation that the Government give commercial trout farming for food production ‘‘serious consideration’’.
A council spokesman said the opposition was ‘‘because of risks to the wild trout fishery’’.
He said the group would now write to the ministers of fisheries and primary industries, asking them to establish a group made up of Fish & Game, concerned iwi, and Government officials, to look into the potential risks of trout farming.
New Zealanders currently require a licence, issued by Fish & Game, to catch the introduced fish, and it is illegal to sell wild-caught trout.
But the sport trout fishing industry is still worth more than $1 billion a year, according to the NZ Federation of Freshwater Anglers, and the South Island reaps most of the benefits.
A Fish & Game spokesperson said 79 per cent of trout fishing licences were granted to people wanting to fish in the south, with Canterbury, the central South Island, Otago and Southland being major hotspots.
Professional Fishing Guides Association of New Zealand president Serge Bonnafoux, who is based in Canterbury’s Hanmer Springs, said allowing commercial trout farming would be one of the ‘‘biggest mistakes in the history of fishing in New Zealand’’. ‘‘New Zealand is regarded globally as a Mecca of flyfishing. That reputation is based on the wild trout.’’
He said 93 per cent of his clientele was from overseas, and came to New Zealand to fish for wild trout.
‘‘It’s the pride of Kiwi anglers and guides that we have amazing rivers, which carry no risk of disease. Even if the trout farming operations took place in water that was completely separated from the main streams, there was still the potential risk.’’
Bonnafoux said Finland had to eradicate whole rivers of wild salmon due to disease, and then reestablish wild populations.
He said those pushing for a commercial fishery were doing so because it was ‘‘easy money’’.
‘‘That kind of easy money doesn’t last long.’’
North Canterbury Fish & Game Council chair Alan Strong said the South Island’s trout fishery was worth a lot of money that could potentially be put at risk.
‘‘There’s the fishery itself, along with a whole lot of associated industries like equipment, accommodation, fishing licence sales, guiding companies etc.’’