600 anglers to be disturbed

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 298, 4 August 1989, Page 21

600 anglers to be disturbed

Up to 600 Tongariro River anglers will be surveyed this month as part of a Department of Conservation (DOC) trout population monitoring project.

DOC officer Glenn Maclean said the annual survey is designed to estimate how the trout fishery is holding up. Most years about 600 anglers are interviewed, he said. "Last year the catch per unit effort (used as a trout numbers index) fell from 0.28 fish per hour to 0.2 per hour - or one fish for every five hours fishing," Mr Maclean said. This fall had been predicted, he said. Severe floods in January 1981 probably killed large numbers of the juvinile fish which would have been expected to dominate spawning runs last year. "Obviously though, if the catch rate is low again this year, managers will have to look at other causes and possible remedies," Mr Maclean said. River anglers will be surveyed during six randomly selected days in August, with DOC staff asking questions about what methods are used, where anglers are from and what success they have. Any fish caught will also be weighed and measured during the survey. This information will be added to that collected from a similar Lade Taupo survey and spawning stream fish trap information. Combined, it should give a clearer picture of the Taupo fisheries' condition and show up changes or trends in its condition. 'All this information gives managers a better grasp of what's occurring in this fishery," Mr Maclean said. "Anybody fishing the Tongariro in August

is likely to be approached by a DOC officer with a clipboard and scales. The interruption is only likely to be for a few minutes

and the information gained is valuable for }. the management of § their fishery. I "Its possible people i may be approached 5 more than once on that i day - but any subse- \ quent interviews will be \ extremely short," Mr \ Maclean said.