North Canterbury Fish & Game disappointed by Take A Kid Fishing Trust

The decision by the Take A Kid Fishing Trust to cancel their 2023 event has disappointed North Canterbury Fish & Game.

North Canterbury Fish & Game have been in discussions with them since August 2022 about the event going forward and has proposed a move away from the Groynes Fishing Lakes from before that time, a move which the Trust has resisted. 

Chair Alan Strong says, “The North Canterbury Fish & Game Council has taken the decision to move away from the Groynes very seriously, and after careful consideration, it was a unanimous decision by the Council.  We are disappointed that the Trust has chosen not to take up this opportunity to move the event and to cancel the event instead.  North Canterbury Fish & Game are the statutory body responsible for managing the sports fishery and is required to make the best decision for the interests of all licence holders and stakeholders”. 

The Groynes Fishing Lakes have become unsuitable as a site for holding fishing events since flood damage in 2022 required some fish screens to be removed to stop the flooding.

The remaining screens become blocked daily with the pest weed lagorosiphon, which has required chemical treatment and daily maintenance by the City Council for many years at an ever-increasing cost to ratepayers. 

It would take a sizeable, costly effort to make these lakes suitable to hold commercial-origin hatchery fish, in order to prevent them from escaping and mixing with the wild sea-run salmon populations. 

North Canterbury Fish & Game has worked with the City Council to include fishing in the Rotokohatu Lakes management plan. These lakes, completely separated from other water bodies, have none of the issues that the Groynes Lakes have. 

They also provide a nicer fishing experience with more support facilities for families, like toilets, BBQ sites and parking. 

We have had staff available to assist in the Take A Kid Fishing Trust’s move away from the Groynes and have been stocking the Rotokohatu lakes with commercial origin salmon since early this year to help the move away from the unsuitable venue that the Groynes has become. 

We are planning a series of family fishing events across the coming fishing season at the Rotokohatu Lakes to allow Christchurch families to go fishing somewhere close to the city. 

North Canterbury Fish & Game have done everything we can to help the Trust move away from the Groynes by providing them with a suitable alternative venue, an offer which has not been taken up. 

You can read about our decision to stop stocking the Groynes Lakes with commercial-origin fish here: https://fishandgame.org.nz/northcanterbury/news/commercial-origin-hatchery-reared-salmon-releases/