“The Rakaia salmon fishery used to be one of the best in New Zealand. It’s now in absolute crisis.” — Barnaby Sharp. In the early 1990s, on a four-month tour of both North and South Islands of New Zealand, I experienced the burgeoning king salmon fishery of New Zealand via jet boat. My guide from Christchurch and I fished the same waters as shown in this Fish & Game New Zealand photo of the Rakaia River. In four days we only saw two other boats with assumed to be salmon anglers. We caught about a dozen kings – nothing larger than 25-pounds and hooked and lost another ten or so… believed to be kings.
Harsh realities of modern life eroding everything that made New Zealand special
The current sad state of the environment leaves no corner of New Zealand untouched as trout streams run barren, insect populations (mayflies & caddisflies) collapse, ducks disappear, valued public deer herds are assassinated, and fish stocks such as scallops implode into oblivion.”
Jack or Jill were as good as their masters, and our extensive public wildlands were the envy of the world
Trout and salmon teemed in local waterways, trophy stags roamed the highlands, ducks and geese flocked to wetlands and estuaries, and vast kai resources of snapper and scallops could be harvested easily by recreational families.”
OPINION: By all accounts in the media, life in New Zealand isn’t getting any easier
by Barnaby Sharp / STUFF / July 7 2018
[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hether it is health services, housing affordability, food or energy prices, there are always major nationwide issues looming. Maybe it has always been this way, or maybe New Zealand is just becoming a nation of haves and have-nots, winners or losers just like the rest of the world.
Trying to be positive, I’ve always believed that New Zealand and New Zealanders are special
In my opinion, what always made us great as a country were the egalitarian bonds that held us together whatever our economic or social standing. Egalitarian bonds that were borne over generations, by early settlers, on the battlefield, the rugby field, or in the mountains, rivers or sea.
