Trout farming

Press, 1 August 1989, Page 12

Trout farming

Sir,—The attempt by; Mr Ken Shirley, M.P., to legalise. trout .'?; farming seems the height of foolishness. In 1874, through the; efforts of our forbears, trout from England were introduced into New Zealand. That little batch of trout has,- over the years ; earned us hundreds of millions ' ? of dollars and the best part is - that it is the angler, riot the ' taxpayer, who has paid, for this enterprise through licence fees and has not altered -the' environ- r . merit one bit Left alone; through overseas tourist dollars; we can'/' continue to earn ' millions. Mr . Shirley wants to change? this; risk a sure thing for some >nebulous. : aquaculture ■ venture with - trout .// ■ Salmon farms were going to be a ?’• bonanza/’lf this ill-advised at- J tempt tofarm trout gets off trie ground-we will lose something /good, something akin to the AH; ; Blacks, Hillary, Devoy, the bellbird, something unique to New/ : Zealand, something like a world- / wide reputation for clear unpolluted rivers, streams and lakes./: Wricansafely take the family ’for a ■ picnic and, for a few'' : dollars, enjoy the finest trout fishing in toe world Do we really need to risk this?—Yours, etc., ■ ’ : j. NORMAN MARSH. July 28, 1989. ?