Otago Fish & Game asks anglers for heads up over elusive salmon

Freshwater anglers are being asked to keep the heads of any elusive sea-run salmon caught from the Clutha River/Mata-Au below the Roxburgh dam.

Otago Fish & Game is supporting research into the collapsed salmon fishery in the lower river.

Pictured above: Former ocean ranching facility manager Mark Gillard (left) and angler Ray Harrex, from Alexandra, at a salmon fishing competition in the lower Clutha River at Roxburgh on March 17, 1985. Mr Harrex caught many salmon over the years around Roxburgh. Photo: Hocken Collections

Fish & Game officer Jayde Couper said the sea-run Chinook salmon fishery in the Mata-Au had declined over many decades.

"Today it's rare to catch salmon below the Roxburgh dam," Mr Couper said.

"However, we're asking anglers to collect the heads of any such fish caught in the lower Clutha to help our research into this predicament."

By analysing the chemistry of the salmon’s ear bone it can be determined when and where the fish was born, a crucial piece of information in understanding and restoring the once-popular Clutha salmon run.

Mr Couper said the research complemented bank-side and aerial fish counts as well as searching for salmon DNA in likely waterways.

"Previous studies of this nature have shown that in some years more than half of salmon returning from the ocean to the Mata-Au were born above the dams," Mr Couper said.

As the Clutha salmon fishery is at very low levels compared with historic returns, identifying the keys spawning areas so they can be monitored, protected and restored is more important than ever.

Anglers are asked to contact Otago Fish & Game to arrange collection.

"If you catch a salmon or find a spawned-out carcass below the dam, cut off the head and freeze in a plastic bag with a label showing the date and location found," Mr Couper said.

Phone (03) 477 9076 or email otago@fishandgame.org.nz