Introduced Fish

Forest and Bird, Issue 312, 1 May 2004, Page 3

Introduced Fish

Director, Fish & Game New Zealand Correction: the letter last issue was by Charles Clark, not Charles Garden.

—BRYCE JOHNSON,

Your correspondent, Charles Clark (Forest ¢& Bird, February 2004), says that while Fish & Game New Zealand has made ‘much of the running in water issues’ in the last few years readers should remember that introduced trout and salmon are predators on native fish. Fish & Game signalled to Forest and Bird some years ago that it was prepared to help out where it could to protect the biodiversity of New Zealand’s aquatic indigenous fauna. We have a long standing organisational policy prohibiting salmonid releases into catchments that have never had them before. And we do not have a closed mind to proposals for their removal in minor subcatchments where a reasonable case can be made for that to occur on biodiversity grounds. Yes, Fish & Game has focused on ‘water issues; and Forest and Bird has joined us on some of

these initiatives; the most recent example being our ‘dirty dairying’ campaign to get the dairy industry to clean up its environmental act. For Fish & Game’s part we have welcomed this ‘strategically’ approach with Forest and Bird as a very effective conservation tactic. Water quality and stream flows protect trout and the pastime of angling, but also benefit indigenous fish and other recreational users. Recent Government documents identify 209,000 hectares of potential irrigation development (a 45 percent increase on the present) and 137 potential hydro schemes. Surely we ought to be fostering and strengthening our strategic relationship when we face such powerful common enemies of aquatic habitat.