Anglers cast doubt on figure

Press, 5 September 1989, Page 4

Anglers cast doubt on figure

By

TOM METCALFE

Claims that fish farming could earn New Zealand $250 million a year by 2010 are deliberately too high, according to an anglers’ group, Trout Unlimited.

The group, which opposes freshwater fish farming because it believes it threatens recreational fishing, said the claim by the Trade Development Board was the result of guessing and “playing with numbers.”

The contribution of recreational freshwater fishing to the economy was undervalued, said Trout Unlimited’s director, Mr John Giacon. He said it was hard to believe the board’s predictions when listed fish farming companies were having losses of millions of dollars. There was limited market potential for rainbow trout overseas because of cheap domestic production in Australia, North America, Japan and Europe. The domestic market was likely to be very competitive, with cagereared chinnock salmon already otf the market. New (Zealand consumers twould choose salmon before trout if the

price was similar, Mr Giacon said.

“We sincerely question if the ready market being touted really exists,” he said.

The predicted or real value of fish farming was vastly outweighed by the value of recreational freshwater fishing to the New Zealand economy. Trout Unlimited’s figures, based on United States and local data, estimated freshwater recreational fishing earned more than $750 million a year, including money spent on tourists. A prime trout caught by a tourist was probably worth $5OOO to $lO,OOO to the country’s economy, said Mr Giacon. “Do you really imagine the tourist angler will come here to catch a fish from a pond set up to augment a fish farmer’s income? We say no.” Trout farming would take fishing areas from recreational anglers, he said.

There was also the problem of disease starting in crowded fish farms and spreading to the wild fish population. Freshwater fishing was part of the New Zealand lifestyle that needed to be protected from commercialism, Mr Giacon said.