Lost Rivers – in New Zealand
Lost Rivers – in New Zealand
New Zealand’s trout fisheries are going downhill and in some cases such as Canterbury’s Selwyn and Irwell Rivers, “lost” as public trout fisheries says Graham Carter, president of the NZ Federation of Freshwater Anglers.
Co-ordinated by Federation executive member Steve Gerard of Methven, the federation had compiled a list of rivers that were either lost or in noticeable decline, from an anglers perspective.
“It’s very eye opening and a sharp reminder with an election looming, that water and rivers is an issue to take up with politicians. At the very least all anglers must vote and vote with the future of our trout rivers in mind,” he said.
"Lost Rivers" represents a decline of the ‘intergenerational equity’ and every New Zealander shares in our freshwater resources.
A link
gives all the other lost rivers in both the South and North
Islands - see http://www.nzffa.co.nz/map.html
"This
mapping lists rivers where a significant loss of opportunity
to catch fish has been identified, and highlights the
significant decline in our freshwater fisheries.
The causes generally relate to developments such as large scale irrigation, intensive farming particularly dairying and forestry clear felling and forestry monocultures within catchments that have impacted on those river environments."
Graham Carter said the mapping was
compiled using NIWA angler usage and perception surveys and
expert angler input. Only rivers where there was an obvious
decline have been listed, there remain a significant number
of others where there wasn't enough collaborating
information to include them.
"The purpose of the
mapping is to further raise awareness of just how big an
issue this really is, and is a work in progress, we will
keep updating the map as more information is compiled."
He urged anglers to tell the Federation about any degraded rivers that should be included: maps@nzffa.co.nz or info@nzffa.co.nz
5 Attachments
Preview attachment lost_river_lower_south.JPG
/
lost_river_lower_south.JPG
Preview attachment lost_river_upper_south.jpg
/
lost_river_upper_south.jpg
Preview attachment lost_rivers_mid south.jpg
/
lost_rivers_mid south.jpg
Preview attachment North Island.png
/
North Island.png
Preview attachment waikato_water_quality.jpg
/
waikato_water_quality.jpg
ends