Angler Usage of the Ngaruroro River, Unwin 2013
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Angler Usage of the Ngaruroro River Background information to accompany Fish & Game New Zealand's application for a Water Conservation Order Prepared for The Catalyst Group September 2013 Authors/Contributors : M J Unwin For any information regarding this report please contact: Martin Unwin +64-3-343 7885 [email protected] National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research Ltd 10 Kyle Street Riccarton Christchurch 8011 PO Box 8602, Riccarton Christchurch 8440 New Zealand Phone +64-3-348 8987 Fax +64-3-348 5548 NIWA Client Report No: CHC-2013-101 Report date: September 2013 NIWA Project: TCG13501 © All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced or copied in any form without the permission of the copyright owner(s). Such permission is only to be given in accordance with the terms of the client’s contract with NIWA. This copyright extends to all forms of copying and any storage of material in any kind of information retrieval system. Whilst NIWA has used all reasonable endeavours to ensure that the information contained in this document is accurate, NIWA does not give any express or implied warranty as to the completeness of the information contained herein, or that it will be suitable for any purpose(s) other than those specifically contemplated during the Project or agreed by NIWA and the Client. Contents Summary ...................................................................................................................... 5 1 Background ........................................................................................................ 6 1.1 The Ngaruroro River Water Conservation Order application........................ 6 1.2 Scope of this report ..................................................................................... 6 2 The River Environment Classification (REC) ................................................... 7 3 Angler surveys ................................................................................................. 12 3.1 The 1979/81 National Angling Survey ....................................................... 12 3.2 The 1994/95, 2001/02, and 2007/08 National Angling Surveys ................. 13 3.3 1979/81 survey results .............................................................................. 14 3.4 1994/96, 2001/02, and 2007/08 survey results .......................................... 19 3.5 Licence sales and angling demographics .................................................. 23 4 National perspective ........................................................................................ 25 5 References ........................................................................................................ 25 Tables Table 3-1: Criteria used to classify nationally important river fisheries into recreational/lowland, scenic/backcountry, and wilderness/headwater categories. 12 Table 3-2: Responses to the 1979/81 National Angling Survey for Ngaruroro River anglers, by angler origin and reach fished. 15 Table 3-3: Characteristic of the Ngaruroro River fishery, based on the 1979/81 National Angling Survey. 16 Table 3-4: Characteristics of the Ohara River and the Taruarau River, based on the 1979/81 National Angling Survey. 18 Table 3-5: Estimated annual usage (angler-days ± 1 standard error) of 48 New Zealand river fisheries attracting at least 2,000 angler/days in 2007- 08. 20 Table 3-6: Estimated annual usage (angler-days ± 1 standard error) or 8 Hawkes Bay catchments, 1994/95 - 2007/08.. 22 Table 3-7: Estimated annual usage (angler-days ± 1 standard error) for 10 rivers within the Ngaruroro catchment, 1994/95 - 2007/08. 22 Table 3-8: Estimated annual usage (angler-days ± 1 standard error) of the Ngaruroro mainstem by reach, 2001/02 and 2007/08. 23 Table 3-9: Sales of FGNZ whole-season fishing licences 2001/2002 and 2007/2008, relative to population figures from the 2001 and 2006 National Censuses. 23 Angler Usage of the Ngaruroro River Figures Figure 2-1: Angling rivers in the regions managed by FGNZ by REC climate class. 9 Figure 2-2: Angling rivers in the regions managed by FGNZ by REC source of flow class. 10 Figure 2-3: Angling rivers in the regions managed by FGNZ, in the REC CW (cold wet), climate class, by REC source of flow class. 11 Reviewed by Approved for release by Paul Sagar Charles Pearson Angler Usage of the Ngaruroro River Summary Fish & Game New Zealand (FGNZ) is applying for a Water Conservation Order (WCO) on the Ngaruroro River. This report briefly describes the values of the Ngaruroro River and catchment for recreational angling, and is intended to be one of a suite of supporting documents which will accompany FGNZ’s application. The Ngaruroro River is unusual among North Island rivers in draining a catchment which is highly elevated, receives abundant rainfall, and with land cover dominated by tussock and grassland rather than indigenous or exotic forest. Such catchments are relatively common in the South Island, where they are represented by rivers such as the Wairau, Clarence, Ahuriri, and Nevis, but in the North Island are limited to the upper Ngaruroro and part of the upper Rangitikei. The Ngaruroro River fishery shows considerable longitudinal variation in general character, angler origin, and level of usage. The lower reaches (below the Taruarau confluence) are predominantly fished by anglers from Hawkes Bay, and are valued for proximity to home, ease of access, and large areas of fishable water. By contrast, the upper reaches (above Kuripapango) attract significant numbers of visitors from outside Hawkes Bay, and are characterised by remoteness, high scenic and wilderness value, and large fish. Estimated annual angler usage of the Ngaruroro River was 3,760 angler-days in 1994/95, 6,240 angler-days in 2001/02, and 2,810 angler-days in 2007/08. This is well below usage levels for highly used North Island rivers such as the Tutaekuri, Tukituki, and Rangitikei, but comparable to well-known South Island back country fisheries such as the Buller, Tekapo, and Ahuriri, and ahead of other high profile central North Island rivers such as the Ruakituri, Manganui-o-te-ao, and Whakapapa. The upper reaches of the Ngaruroro River sustain a fishery comparable in stature to back country and headwater fisheries elsewhere in New Zealand, including the Ahuriri, upper Oreti, Sabine, Travers, Caples, and Greenstone, all of which are recognised as nationally important. For this reason, the upper Ngaruroro should be regarded as nationally important. The lower reaches of the Ngaruroro River also sustain a significant recreational fishery, but its value is regional or local rather than national. The most striking feature of the upper Ngarururo River is the extremely high regard in which the fishery is held by anglers from throughout the North Island. For North Island anglers who seek a remote fishing experience, in an expansive wilderness environment, the Ngaruroro headwaters provide virtually the only suitable fishery outside of the South Island. Angler Usage of the Ngaruroro River 5 1 Background 1.1 The Ngaruroro River Water Conservation Order application Fish & Game New Zealand (FGNZ) is applying for a Water Conservation Order (WCO) on the Ngaruroro River, and has engaged The Catalyst Group ( www.thecatalystgroup.co.nz ; Catalyst) to manage the application. To further this process, Catalyst is preparing a primary document setting out the terms of the application, together with a suite of supporting documents detailing specific aspects of FGNZ’s case. This peer-reviewed report addresses the above request. It does not include results from FGNZ’s most recent angling survey, scheduled for completion in September 2013, and which is likely to provide a considerable amount of new data relevant to the Ngaruroro fishery. 1.2 Scope of this report This report ° sets the Ngaruroro River in a national context based on the River Environment Classification, a representation of New Zealand’s river network which provides consistent and objective descriptors of each river; ° briefly reviews sample survey methods as they have been applied to freshwater fishing in New Zealand over the last thirty years; ° describe the findings of these surveys in relation to the Ngaruroro River; and ° uses these findings to assess the Ngaruroro River fishery in a national context; 6 Angler Usage of the Ngaruroro River 2 The River Environment Classification (REC) The REC is a numerical model of New Zealand’s river network, originally developed for the Ministry for the Environment, to provide standardised and objective descriptors of riverine environments (Snelder and Biggs 2002). Over the last decade it has become increasingly widely used for modelling river environments at both regional and national scales (e.g., Larned and Unwin 2012, Unwin et al. 2010). The REC represents individual rivers as a series of connected segments. Each segment is uniquely defined by its upstream and downstream node, with each node marking the junction of two segments. Nodes thus represent tributary confluences, and segments represent sections of each river between successive tributaries. The full REC network comprises 570,000 segments, with a mean length of 740 m. Each segment is associated with its own local watershed, so that the catchment draining to each node can be characterised by summing or averaging attributes for all upstream segments. Available descriptors for each segment include measures of climate, topography, geology, land cover and hydrology. Topographical and hydrological attributes