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Freshwater fishing licences enter a new era

New licences are now on sale for the freshwater fishing season beginning on October 1.

Fish & Game NZ chief executive Corina Jordan says around 100,000 anglers are expected to go freshwater fishing throughout the country.

“Freshwater anglers are a passionate bunch, and the start of the new season is firmly on their calendars,” she says.

greysen-johnson-cZVzzFadTMc-unsplash.jpg“We expect a flurry of activity now the new season licences are on sale. We know people are keen to get out with family and friends, enjoy the outdoors, re-connect with nature and fish for food.”

Most fishing takes place in easily accessible lowland rivers and lakes, but a new management tool will protect New Zealand’s more fragile fisheries, often found in the backcountry.

“The new Designated Waters Licence will see Kiwi anglers get a fairer share on some of the waterways that Fish & Game’s research has shown are subject to too much pressure – around two per cent of the country’s rivers,” says Jordan.

“The new licence category will help us manage angling pressure by spreading angling effort around so that it isn’t concentrated in certain areas, which detracts from the angling experience and also has the potential to impact the fisheries negatively.”

Over the past ten years, Fish & Game has received increasing complaints from resident and non-resident anglers regarding overcrowding in a small number of fisheries that will now be managed through the Designated Waters Licence.

Jordan says research and monitoring show that a small percentage of non-resident anglers will intensely fish in a local area, putting pressure on the fishery and displacing other anglers.

“We’ve implemented this new fisheries management tool to help address that imbalance.”

In some fisheries, angler use has gone from a roughly 50/50 resident-to-non-resident split (in the early 2000s) to an 80/20 split favouring non-resident anglers. In most cases, pressure-sensitive fisheries now managed through the Designated Waters Licence, share common features. The rivers have very clear water, offer excellent sight fishing, hold large average-size trout, have high scenic value, and are often located in a wilderness or backcountry setting.

“With most of our non-resident anglers fishing our backcountry fisheries for four or fewer days, most anglers won’t be impacted by the change,” says Jordan.

“We appreciate and value overseas anglers, their contribution to the economy, and our organisation through purchasing licences, which helps us protect waterways.”

Photography: Greysen Johnson on Unsplash

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