Great educational day out at Lake Wainono

BY PETER SHUTT

OPINION: Last Saturday the combined efforts of Environment Canterbury, Fish and Game, Department of Conservation, Canterbury Biodiversity and local people provided an excellent appraisal of the wetland we know as Lake Wainono.

The day was restricted to just 80 people because of site access issues, but from the appreciative comments I have heard, it is likely to be repeated for World Wetland Day.

The event provided a good example of communities working together to restore wetlands.

Many people drive past the Waimate turnoff on State Highway 1 and fail to realise that Lake Wainono is the largest coastal freshwater body between Lake Ellesmere and Lake Waihola, in Otago.

Most wetlands in New Zealand have been drained to provide farmland, with the loss of up to 90 per cent of its wetlands. But now the value of wetlands is better understood and some restoration work is occurring. This understanding includes the terrestrial environment (the human activities), the aquatic environment (the transitional zone between freshwater and seawater, and what lives in it), along with the benthic environment (the bed of the lagoon with its channels, extensive diversity of plants and animals).

Lake Wainono was once regarded as the main food resource in the region for both Maori and Pakeha living nearby.

All who heard Murray Bruce, a local farmer, explain some of the history of the Wainono area, or listened to Waitaha elder Rangimarie Te Maiharoa explain the heritage of Waitaha people in the region, came away with a new understanding of what Lake Wainono has contributed to the community, and continues to contribute.

Fish and Game field officer Graeme Hughes described the habitat and water conditions appropriate to the short-finned eel (referred to by Mr Te Maiharoa as the hao eel).

Mr Hughes explained that commercial eeling in the 1970s reduced the catch to an unacceptable level, with one visit resulting in just eight of the 150 eels captured being of edible size. "It's still happening today," he warned.

During World War II, Maori captured eels from Lake Wainono and dried them for distribution to the Maori Battalion soldiers at war in Italy.

Graeme Hughes also demonstrated the calls of various birds that inhabit this lake.

Anne Te Maiharoa Dodds provided lessons in harakeke weaving techniques, as practised by Waitaha Maori in early times.

Tom Doerr, an American who spends half the year at Hakataramea, introduced people to freshwater and saltwater fishing techniques. It was clear his experience of different fishing activities were appreciated.

Mr Doerr and his wife Lorraine have for many years been teaching casting, sharing their abundant fishing knowledge and supplying fishing rods and reels to many hundreds of youngsters. They followed up their tuition with a casting competition and prizes.

DOC field officer George Iles gave an excellent address about the birds associated with the Lake Wainono wetlands, and commented on some of the pest species that are known to kill waterfowl.

Britain's fishing history

In a photocopy of a page from Isaac Walton's Treatise of Fyshynge with an Angle recently provided by a long-time angling friend, I have learnt much about the history of fishing in Britain.

According to the report, more than five centuries of fishing literature record the sport in England, and this makes fishing a longer recorded sport than most in that country.

Changing conditions and styles of fishing are recorded and it's clear that fishing has always been important to the inhabitants of the British Isles.

The changing vocabulary over the centuries is interesting. The earliest terms concerning fishing are derived mainly from Old English but with one or two Celtic or Gaelic terms added. The term "angle" comes from the Old English "angul", The terms fish-hook, beetle, creeper, drag, gnat, midge and wade are also Celtic in origin. "Charr" is Gaelic (from "ceara", meaning red or blood covered).

In the 11th century the Norman French contributed words such as blank, brace, cane, fry, mend, salmon, spawn, troll, trout, and many others.

It wasn't until the 15th century that Latin words came into the piscatorial picture. Words such as chironomid, diptera, and dorsal all appeared during that time.

The Old English words associated mostly with fish and food, whereas the vocabulary after the Norman Conquest was more attuned to the fishing activity. Fly fishing was brought to England by the Norman aristocracy. They had the leisure time to fish and hunt on their far-flung estates.

Fishing accidents

Several accidents occurred to anglers in January. Some were rock fishermen and others were anglers boating out of rivermouths. Water is a great friend and a resolute enemy. Treat it with respect and wear the appropriate safety gear.

Trout farming back on the agenda

Trout farming has reared its ugly head again, but I doubt the public will have much appetite for it after the way some people – dedicated to the dollar one might say – have created their own environmental problems this past year and exposed their actions as unfriendly to the community in which they operate.

It is unfortunate when a few create a rod for the back of many.

In raising the issue, Federated Farmers seems to have overlooked the fact that trout were brought to New Zealand by recreationalists as a recreational species and has never, in this country, been allowed to become a commercial species.

I foresee some battles ahead, but I know the papers and attitudes expressed when this subject was last raised remain in the filing cabinets of those who fought against commercialisation at that time, and I fear an even stronger response is likely this time around.

I note the latest issue of Rural News suggests the matter is a red herring aimed at getting back at Fish and Game. If that should prove to be true, what a waste of time for all concerned.

- © Fairfax NZ News