Tame trout easy meat

Press, 1 May 1981, Page 1

Tame trout easy meat

Poachers have stolen most of the pet Tout f om the Willowbank Wild—e Reserve. Some giant ornamental goldfish, worth between $l5 and $2O each, have also Jjeen taken. The poachers have used fish hooks and lines to catch the ’ fish, some of which had been hand-fed for six years. “They were very tame,” said Mr M. H. Willis, manager of the reserve. “It would just have been a matter of putting a bit of bread on a hook with a few feet of string, and pulling them out,” he said.

Staff first noticed the fish disappearing two weeks ago. “At the beginning of this week we noticed another big batch had gone,” Mr Willis said. Staff fears about poachers were confirmed when ducks were found with fish hooks embedded in their beaks and wings. Five ducks have had to have hooks removed, but nene have had to be destroyed. Staff say that the ducks scavenge bread when visitors come to feed the trout. . The poachers raided both a pond where trout

and goldfish were Kept, and a stream where visitors could feed trout. About 30 tame trout and an unknown number of goldfish have been tak. It was thought the poachers climbed over fences to get into the reserve, either in the week-ends, in the early morning, or late in the evening, because those were the times when staff were not around to keep an eye on the fish. The reserve, which is sited about 12km nortn of Christchurch, might lose patronage because of the poaching. “We only have eight left, and they are tbe

wary ones which are not' tame enough to be fed by l hand,” said Mr Willis. | “It will take years to replace them.” It was the first time poachers had raided the reserve, he said. Staff at the reserve held a meeting yesterday to decide what to do about the problem. They decided to maintain a watch on the pond and the stream, and Mr Willis has notified the police. Mr Willis was anxious to hear from any members of the public who had seen anybody acting suspiciously near the reserve.