One of the interesting parts of being on the Executive of the NZFFA is that you never know what is going to appear on your computer screen next! It’s been a most interesting year with a lot happening and while much is new quite often they relate to issues connected to similar issues historically. We are fortunate (thanks to Strato Cotsilinis and his wife Carmen) to have a record of all the Minutes and Presidents Reports going back to our formation in 1975. The reason for mentioning this, is not just that they make very interesting reading, but that they contain an enormous amount of detailed information that we are able to refer to – and then to build on or modify for the day’s events. I have a real antipathy to re-inventing the wheel. Issues such as trout farming, new hydro dams, the changing face of legislation, mining the conservation estate and difficulties with access. Our actions regarding these are stated in black and white.

This of course means that we have a head-start on others not so well prepared or aware of similarities from the past, as well as references to show others of ‘what really happened and why’.

It is invaluable data.

To add to this we are fortunate in having among us many people who have experienced a lot of these issues and have served many years with the NZFFA. People like Tony Orman, Strato Cotsilinis, Ken Sims, Alan McMillan, John Henderson and Jim Hale to name but a few. These ‘wise old heads’ continue to do a great job. However, it is most important that we have younger and enthusiastic people within our ranks also to ensure that we continue to have good leadership and participation in the future.

Is YOUR club represented on the Federation? Is there someone in your club that could step up to the mark? Let me know, I’d like to hear and have them join us. (I don’t mind when the emails come in or the phone goes.)

In addition, the fine Secretary Selwyn Hodder and myself have also been compiling a ‘friends email list’ whereby they – and the Executive -are able to comment and pass opinion and assist us in getting a ‘body of opinion’ rather than in the ‘opinion of some of the Executive’ or indeed, just the President! Drop Selwyn a line if you would like to be on this list – or have someone in your club that could add value in this way.

Water ‘The new gold’

This is being realised now, by not only the government, but people as a whole. While we have made the point repeatedly over the years as fisherman who walk the rivers and lakes and see what is happening to the water quality and that of the surrounding environment there have been others who have also been warring valiantly to not see the errors of the past being repeated. At last year’s AGM Murray Rodgers, Chairman of the ‘Water Rights Trust’ in Christchurch gave us his appraisal of the mismanagement of Canterbury’s water (as is reflected elsewhere in the country). It came as little surprise when the Government stepped in and disbanded ECan’s Councillor structure and replaced it with Dame Margaret Blazey and commissioners to be appointed. Yes, draconian it could be said but the state of Canterbury’s water, the allocation of same, and the structure of management is far from acceptable. Needless to say however the indications are that that Dame Margaret and her team will have powers far in excess of what is reasonable which could see current WCO’s being abolished and Environment Court cases being put to the side. (Such as the Hurunui Hearing and changes to the Rakaia and perhaps the Ahuriri and others. Also Lake Coleridge is now at risk of further abuse from Hydro.)

For Murray and many others this is a cause for concern and we, along with other groups are endeavouring to minimise the likelihood of action as dramatic as this being taken.

Another concern we have had over the years is that because water has considerable value, it will become a TRADABLE COMMODITY. We oppose this completely. However A METHOD OF PRICING MUST BE STRUCK. The question is how – and in a manner which is ‘fair to all concerned’. (This goes for both the buyer and the seller). Regardless of the ‘how’, the rewards must be shared by everyone. ‘Tradable Water Rights’ do NOT have a part to play here we believe.

While I believe that Canterbury’s concerns are considerable, there are similar problems with deteriorating water quality and over-abstraction throughout the country. The Manawatu River and the Tukituki in Hawkes Bay are prime examples and while these two have been highlighted well by the media it is not having the desired effect. While many anglers have been concerned for seemingly bad PR coming from the farming community relating to ‘Fish and Game New Zealand’s’ stand on ‘Dirty Dairying’, the call had to be made – and it has been heard and I think has had impact. If it had not why would the Chief Executive of Fonterra, Andrew Ferrier not be writing in defence of the action being taken by their dairy suppliers in this regard? (NZ Herald of 7 April 2010).

Personally I believe that ‘water is the very lifeblood of the soils’ and we would be foolish if we believe that we can continue to further and further intensify farm practices and water use without exacerbating what is bad enough now and which could lead to the complete breakdown of the soil and creating dessert. There are many examples of this historically e.g. the ‘Fertile Crescent’, the current water shortage problems in Iraq and Iran, in Australia and recent publicity about the similar problems due to ‘over grazing and deforestation’ in China. We are not immune to this problem.

Energy Generation.

This year the Federation has made submissions on the Hurunui, the Mokihinui and the Nevis proposals We continue to monitor progress on the Wairau (Blenheim) and others we have made submissions to and been involved in in the past We have also given moral support to Johnny Groome on the West Coast who has been fighting valiantly against yet another dam on the Arnold. One of the guest speakers at this years AGM will be Dr. Michel Dedual of DoC. Michel is a Water Scientist based in Turangi who’s particular interest is in the ‘impacts of dams, not only on trout, but other freshwater life. I look forward to hearing what he has to say and we will report back accordingly.

Last week the commissioners voted 2:1 in favour of Meridian being able to dam the Mokihinui River on the West Coast. Another incredibly beautiful iconic wild river that may never be seen and enjoyed by future generations – unless we continue to take action. Here I must commend Debs Martin of Forest and Bird and her WILD RIVERS CAMAPIGN. Many groups such as ours have joined the ranks and I believe the message is being heard. (Our participation has had us working in with ‘Forest and Bird’ on a ‘project by project basis and I look forward to this continuing.) And why is the power needed on the West Coast? Much of it is needed to power the coal mining equipment to mine the coal to be sent overseas for power generation - for them to create their own emissions. I consider this an absolute hypocrisy –especially at a time when new coal-fired systems are being developed with minimal emissions and solar, wind and tide systems are coming into play. And nuclear? Why at least has this, with the new developments is both size and waste reduction, at least being placed on the table? Key to lobbying in opposing, say, the establishment of yet another dam, is to GIVE ALTERNATIVES. This is why over the years we have been so vocal in ‘giving alternatives’ and spending the time researching same. The other point we continually make is ‘to use less power better’. Transmission losses are considerable due to poor infrastructure throughout the country for one and we cannot understand the Governments lack of interest in subsidising solar hot water heating and double glazing in ALL now homes as well as incentives for others. The financial savings are great as would be the pull on the national grid.

The ‘Privatisation of the (freshwater) fishery’.

There has been good publicity generated over the past 12 months on the vexatious subject of privatisation of the fishery. Stories of access being sold to guides is a favourite one and was shown to good effect when a landholder on the TV3 programme THE NATION recently who said clearly that ‘His iwi leases parts of the Taruarua River to private companies who then offered exclusive fishing to high paying clients’.

Thanks to very good work being done by Federation members and others way back in 1977, the ‘Conservation Law Reform Act’s Sec 26ZN’ was passed. This law says that in effect ‘it is illegal to let or sell the right to fish’. This was a major achievement. However we must realise that it is not against the law to sell the right of access. I believe however that as the ‘fishery is in the public domain’, we must continue to lobby to ensure that ‘access cannot be sold’ and that the law is enlarged to cover ‘access to the fishery’. We support Fish and Game New Zealand in their endeavours here – though we do not support their wish to see changes in this act or the ‘Wildlife Act’ relating to legalising ‘Upland Game Preserves’.

We continue to oppose the ‘Commercialisation of fishing and shooting’. The pressure on ‘Fish and Game’ for further ‘Upland Game Preserves continues – especially in the ‘Auckland/Waikato Fish and Game Region’ where Doug Emmett and his team have held them at bay. However a concerted and well-orchestrated ‘lobby’ saw a team of shooters being voted onto the ‘Auckland/Waikato Council ‘in this last election. (Not only in this Region but elsewhere.) While we canvassed their (individuals in the group) opinions prior to the election and have their assurances that they are not going to be pushing for detrimental changes to those Acts of Parliament that give us the protection we as anglers need, we must continue to be vigilant here. An addition point became clear as the voting figures showed up and that was that angler apathy prevails. The angler vote was very very poor so we have little excuse if regional ‘Fish and Game Councils’ set priorities that don’t suit us. We have no excuse at all. WE MUST VOTE.

Access

This year has seen the ‘WALKING ACCESS COMMISSION’ (WAC) becoming even more active with the appointment of Mark Neeson from MAF as its CEO. Mark has been involved with John Acland since the concept was launched by the then Member of Parliament, Jim Sutton. The Federation, along with other key stakeholders such as PANZ, CORANZ, Fish and Game and Federated Farmers have met regularly to hear of their achievements and plans. I have attended two of these meetings in Wellington over the past year. While some of us have disagreed with the STRATGY that the WAC have put on the table recently, and have requested that we see this amended more in line with the original strategy and that of the Act, I feel that considerable progress has been made. The handling and the method of managing the ‘Paper Roads’ (Unformed Public Roads or ‘UPR’s) situation, is still unresolved as is the matter of the broadening of the term ‘Walking Access’ to include, say, vehicles, dogs and guns as per my last report. This is a most important aspect as we do not want to see the WAC degenerating to become purely ‘signs showing the way to the beach’.

Foreshore and Seabed

This leads straight into this current and very contentious issue. Things are far from straight forward and considerable weight will have to be applied to see common sense prevail. I must say that I am not at all impressed with the fact that the government of the day is very blatant in showing quite clearly that the vote leads the way, rather than what is good for the country at large. While the wishes of Maori must be taken into account, for there to be the amount of bias for political gain which is currently showing is far from acceptable. That the foreshore and seabed be ‘Public Domain’ or whatever other name is appended, is only as relevant as the fine print describing its meaning. It is most important that we all keep up with the play here and involve ourselves if need be. The outcome will affect our access to the fishery in the long term. Maoris’ record of maintaining free public access to all is not good. Examples of this abound – such as the closing of the Eastbourne Lakes recently, the situation with CNI Forests (Kaingaroa), the example shown in the recent TV programme as above, and the many situations where access to well known rivers is not permitted through Maori owned property. (Where incidentally, there are no ‘Paper Roads’ on traditional Maori land.) It should be observed that there is no reason for trout to be included in any questionable dialogue over ‘customary Fishing Rights’ as they were not liberated until after the Treaty was signed.

Trout Farming

This is rearing its ugly head again. One of the very many common issues running back in the Presidents Reports and Minutes to 1975 is this contentious one. It annoys us somewhat that the fire is being fuelled by ‘Federated Farmers’. Thanks to the history being well recorded and the recollections of the ‘grey heads’ among us, our Ken Sims has put together a very comprehensive “Background to NZFFA Policy on the commercialisation of recreational sport fishing.” This very comprehensive 26 page document is a very definitive paper on the subject and is available on our website www.nzffa.net or by email from Selwyn or I. Needless to say we continue to take all opportunities we can to minimise the likelihood of trout farming in NZ as would it be the death of our world renown wild fishery as we know it. Disease would be rampant as would poaching be.

The Health of the Fishery.

There has been more concern being expressed in terms of the ‘health of the fishery’ nationally of late than I have heard in the past. Taupo has come in for more than its fair share of criticism and we look forward to hearing what Glen Maclean, Programme manager for the DoC fishery at the AGM in Turangi, has to say on the matter. Likewise we will be hearing from Frank Murphy, President of ‘NZ Professional Fishing Guides Assn’ who has quite a bit to say on the matter! We entered into good dialogue with Ben Wilson, Fisheries Manager Auckland/Waikato Fish and Game following a REMIT (Auckland Freshwater Anglers) regarding the ‘Quality of the Ohinemuri River fishery’ – especially regarding the stocking of the river. Ben knows the river particularly well and gave a well reasoned reply as to why they should not stock it – which of course did not go down well with some! This dialogue continues. One of ‘Fish and Game’s’ responsibilities under their controlling act, is to maximise opportunities for anglers. We consider that having rivers well stocked is part of this requirement. (I also recognise the difference in abilities we have as fishermen. I was talking to a friend recently regarding my poor day on the Whanganui and he commented on the fact that he had been fishing with some members of an overseas team a few days before on the same river, and the 5 of them had landed over 100 fish in 4½ hours – over 4 each per hour!) We have viewed the demise of many hatcheries over the years and I must say that I see a major disparity between the very active and effective salmon stocking seen in the South Island compared with the trout fishery – especially in the North Island. (Rotorua Lakes being the exception.) However it is important to appreciate where Ben comes from. There are many other matters to be sorted – mostly to do with habitat and water quality – before the possibility of stocking is a consideration.

‘Federated Farmers’

I feel that as spokesmen for the farming community they get rather out of step at times with what the farmers they represent want. In July Tony Orman and I had a very convivial meeting with Don Nicolson, their president, and Conor English their CE. We covered a lot of country – no pun intended. We made the important points of being completely opposed to any support for ‘Wander at will’ and fully respected the responsibilities that go with being granted access and respected the privilege of access where given. Further we canvassed the concept of ‘an angler’s licence’ being a vehicle for even more liberal access both on private and crown lease property. We will be following up on this. We also spoke on the ‘Walking Access Commission’ and their (NZFF) presence as participants on the Board and as stakeholders. (Ably represented by Don Aubrey.) We struck a real accord with a common concern for lack of action by Biosecurity NZ in term of quarantine and border control and agreed to work together on this. I am most concerned at the lack of seeming interest in invasive freshwater incursions. As I have mentioned many times before, while Didymo is bad, there are many other potential incursions that could be much more damaging should they ever enter our waters. In all a very fruitful discussion made easier by the fact that many of our members are farmers and two of our executive are too. However we find it quite perplexing to find that they are promoting ‘Trout Farming’ in New Zealand. We will take this further with them. We have always had great relationships with the farming community – after all it is thanks to our relationships with many that we get the access to fish as we do.

Lobbying.

This is an important part of what we do. This is well reflected in our records since our inception. The ‘common causes’ such as ‘mining the conservation estate, new dams, ‘saving rivers’, supporting ‘Water Conservation Orders’, extending current acts to protect the fishery and access there-to and to lobby with kindred orgs. All very important and attended to as much as we possibly can. However we need your support, and as Tony Orman repeatedly mentions in our Newsletters and other notes, please ‘write to your MP’, following-up on articles in the local or national papers with ’Letters to the Editor’ – or as is today’s opportunity, to participate in the ‘blogs’ or ‘opportunities for comment’ that follow articles or themes in the media (Papers and TV). On the subject of ‘Letters to the ED’ and other articles forwarded to the media, it is not easy to ‘get published’, however we continue to try and have had some good wins. We have been in communication with many MP’s in the course of the year and continue to keep this contact up – to be intensified closer to the elections.

Briefs

• Last year I mentioned ‘trout being the opossums of the water-ways’. Thanks to our Secretary Selwyn’s Hodder finding a very good outdoor display at a DoC office which inadvertently had a part showing trout being ‘a pest of the waterways’ – in fact shown as being ‘Stoats of the waterways’. We were not impressed. I must commend DoC for taking very quick remedial action here in removing the display and its sentiments. (All the same we have to be wary for the ‘if it’s not indigenous its out’ mentality that exists in some quarters.)
• New clubs – its great to welcome the ‘Northshore Flyfishers Club’ (Auckland) into the fold as well as the old established ‘Oak Club’ from the banks of the Ohau Channel in Rotorua. Welcome to you all.
• Biosecurity - we still consider the biosecurity measures being taken in New Zealand quite inadequate and use this heading to highlight just that In so saying, in attending today’s Didymo/Freshwater Pests Partners Group Meeting on Auckland’s North Shore, I was impressed at the commitment and knowledge of the subject by the two Biosecurity NZ staff members who attended. Action is still being taken – we must ensure that it does. Note their website www.didymo.net is a great source of data. Felt soles - while there is still dissent here in terms the action taken in NZ it is worthy of note that felt soles are now banned in Alaska. We continue to promate the US ‘Aquatic Hitchikers’ biosecurity log in particular as being as internationally recognised biosecurity sign that means check-clean-dry.May I suggest that you have a look at their site ‘Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers News’ - www.protectyourwaters.net
• ‘Overseas Visitors Licence’ – we continue to lobby for this even although we appreciate the difficulties involved. The Minister of Conservation, Hon. Kate Williamson, has a letter from us on her desk now and we look forward to her considered response. It is most important that we know more about the demographics of anglers in New Zealand.
• ‘Guides Licence’ – again we consider this should be mandatory.

In conclusion

‘Communicating with stakeholders’. Always of concern and know that quite a lot of what we do goes un-communicated for which I apologise. Time is of the essence and there is always a lot happening. Tony Orman does a great job with Newsletters and a raft of other forms of communication and again time is money here (as it should be), and it could well be argued that a paid Exec position be created versus relying on volunteer time. (Worthy of mention but not reality at this stage I feel.) However our very good website makes communication even quicker and more responsive. Have YOU been into the site recently? – www.nzffa.net Our ‘Web Master’ has had a busy year and not been able give as much time he would like to however he has done a great job and know that Andrew Howard will continue to do so. Thanks Andrew.

I have a most enjoyable three years as President and will be stepping down at this AGM as required and rightly so, by our Constitution. I will stay on the Executive for as long as I can contribute. Thanks to the many people who have been of assistance over this time. I’d like to make special mention and convey thanks to Alan McMillan and his great work with PANZ, Tony Orman – the master communicator, Ken Sims our ‘Information and collation man’, and Strato our Treasurer and a great contributor, all of who make the wheels turn together with Selwyn Hodder (Secretary) who has made this past two years run so well oiled with a good dollop of humour rolled in. These and the other members of the Executive have been very helpful. Hugh Barr of CORANZ does an invaluable job and I much appreciate his efforts even if we do have differing opinions at times! Trish Rea of ‘Option4’ also is very worthy of mention, having some very insightful points of view. A great lot of people all round.

Thanks for your time – I look forward to meeting you on a river sometime.

Ian Rodger,

President, ‘NZ Federation of Freshwater Anglers (Inc)’.

It is spring. The days lengthen. The rain is less frequent and lighter. Warmth returns to the sunshine. Plants burst forth from winter’s dormancy into bud, green leaf and flowers. Down on the river the willows branches have suddenly changed from orange to green as they burst into leaf. The flows have fallen and stabilised, no longer does the rivers winter rages balloon out of control, ripping and tearing at the banks in muddy torrents. The water flows clear over clean beds, washed of last summers excesses. In those flows the trout feed freely on increasing insect life. The urgency and the trials of winters spawning are forgotten. It is a time of recovery, reconditioning, and renewal.

A new fishing season is beginning. There are licences to buy, rods to inspect, reels to lubricate, lines to dress and recondition, and flies to tie. In the spring sunshine, boots and packs are again prepared for the fray. Nylon tested – check. Hooks sharpened – check. Sunscreen and insect repellent – check. Didymo spray – check.

How many times have you arrived at a favourite stretch of river after a winter’s break, only to find that it has changed beyond all recognition? Favourite pools and runs have disappeared. The river may have changed course completely. That is part of the frustration and the attraction of fishing. For each pool or run lost will have been replaced by another elsewhere. It is up to you to go and find them!