Fishing News index > June 2009

Apathy alive and well – by Chris Tonkin, Manager

For Fish & Game staff – well this one, anyway - one of the more soul destroying tasks is engaging in the RMA statutory planning process. It is necessary work because if the agencies such as Regional Councils and Unitary Authorities are not doing their job then we cannot do ours. Put simply the above agencies have sole statutory responsibility for the quality and quantity of water in our rivers and streams, while Fish & Game manages the species inhabiting them. Unless Regional Councils have rules to protect sportsfish and gamebird habitat from the excesses of adjacent land use – and the balls to enforce them – then a decline in the quantity and quality of habitat is inevitable. 

Lake Brunner is well established as a West Coast icon not only for angling but a host of other recreational uses. The catchment is intensively farmed and over the past decade many fine words have been spoken about protecting the quality of the lake for future generations.
The Regional Council Chair maintained the rhetoric in his introduction to the 2008-09 Annual plan with the words; “in terms of environmental work our highest priority for water quality outcomes is Lake Brunner.” 
But despite a decade or more of hand- wringing the latest Regional Council Draft Long term Council Community Plan states “Lake water quality has continued to decline steadily, linked with a steady increase in phosphates. The increasingly nutrient-rich water leads to increasing micro-algal growth in the water column, which reduces the clarity of the water”.

Apart from stating the blindingly obvious the LTCCP is completely silent on any proposed methods or performance targets designed to deal with the issue, and in response to Fish & Game submissions the Council has since advised an intention to “embark on a major plan variation over coming months”. Well glory be!

Adding to what is an inherently exasperating task is the reality that despite potential for a real environmental tragedy, the Council received not a single other submission on the subject. No lake residents, no tourism operators, lodge proprietors, fishing guides, District Council or anybody else ... just Fish & Game. So here’s a challenge to anybody out there who cares for the next generation of lake users.  When the Regional Council advertises for submissions to its latest Plan and associated rules don’t let Councillors get away with another sub-standard job. Get behind Fish & Game and help make them accountable for a decade of impotence.

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