The Relative Value of Rivers and Stratford Anglers
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rssN 0111 - 4794 Fisheries Environmental Report No. 21 The relative value of rivers in the Taranak¡ region to Taranaki, Hawetà, and Stratford anglers Fisheries Research Division Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Wellington F'i sheri es Env'i ronmental Report No. 2I The relative value of rìvens in the Taranakj region to Taranaki, Hawera, and Stratford anglers by L.D. Tei rney J. R'ichardson M.J . Unw'i n F'isheni es Research Di vi si on N.Z. Ministry of Agricultune and Fisheries t{el I i ngton November 1984 F ISHERIES ENVIRONMENTAL REPORTS This neport is one of a series of reports issued by Fisheries Research Division on 'important issues related to environmental mattens. They are i ssued undbr the fol'low'ing criter''ia: (1) They are informal and should not be cited without the author's perm'ission.* (2) They are for l'imited c'irculation, so that persons and ongan'isati ons normal ly rece j vi ng F'isheries Research Di vi sì on pubìications should not expect to rece'ive copies automatically. (3) Copies wiì1 be issued initially to organ'isat'ions to which the repont ìs d'irectly relevant. (4) Copies wilì be issued to other appropriate organ'isations on request to F'isheries Research Divis'ion, Ministry of Agricultune and Fisheries, P.0. Box 8324, Riccarton, Christchurch. (5) These reports wìlì be'issued whene a substant'ial report is requi red with a ti me constrai nt, ê. g. , a submi ss'ion for a tri bunal heari ng. 'interi (6 ) They wi ì I al so be i ssued as m reports of on -goi ng envi ronmental studi es for whi ch year by year olintermittent reporting ìs advantageous. These interim reports wiì'l not preclude formal scientif ic publication. * This report is exempt from this condition. CONTE NTS Page P reface 1. Introducti on 2. Results 14 3. Characteristics of 15 Rivers and Streams in the 25 Taranakì reg'ion 3. 1 Manganui R'i ver 25 3.1.1 Maketawa Stream 26 3.2 lrlai ongana St ream 26 3.3 I,laiwhaka'iho Ri ver 27 3.3.1 Mangorei Stream 27 3.3.? Kai auai Stream 28 3.4 Te Henu'i Stream 28 3.5 Stony (Hangatahua) Rìver 29 3.6 Warea Ri ver 29 3.7 Wa'iaua Ri ver 30 3.8 Kaupokonu'i Stream 30 3.8.1 Mangawhero Stream 31 3.9 Kapun'i St ream 32 3. 10 I^lai ngongoro Ri ver 32 3.11 Patea R'iver 33 4. Di scuss'ion 34 5. Acknowl edgments 37 6. L'iterature Cited 37 Appendi x I. Taranaki, Hawena, and Stratford 39 Accl jmat'isation Society survey booklets Appendi x I I. F requency h'i stograms of ang'lers ' 1-5 ratì ngs 7T ass'igned to the importance, or vaìue, of each ri ver they fì shed and to each of seven factors whìch contrjbute to the angling experience on 15 r'ivers 'in the Taranak'i region which attracted more than 25 respondents Appendi x I I I. F requency hì stograms of ang'l ers ' 1-5 rati ngs 79 assigned to the importance, on vaìue, and to each of the seven factors wh'ich contribute to the angling experience on three rivers in the Taranaki reg'ion which attracted 10 or more respondents f rom two accl i mat'i sat'ion socì ety di st ri cts Append'i x IV. Frequency histograms of anglers' 1-5 ratings 83 ass'igned to the importance, or value, of each ri ver they fi shed and to each of seven factors which contribute to the angling experience on the 16 ri vers i n the Taranak'i reg'ion wh'ich attracted 10-25 respondents TABLES Page 1. Length and gradi ent of selected Taranaki rivers 11 2. Numbers of Taranaki, Hawera, and Stratford adult l'icence 14 holders, the number sampl ed, and thei r response to the su rvey 3. Measures of angler use of n'ivers and streams in the 15 Taranaki regi on 4. Measures of angler use and importance grade, or value, 18 of 15 n'i vers and streams 'in the Taranaki regi on 5. Estimates of adult angler use for the most-fjshed river 19 'i n sel ected North Is I and accl'imat'i sati on soci ety di stri cts 6. Assessment by anglers of seven factors which contribute to 20 the angling experience prov'ided by 15 r'ivers and streams i n the Taranaki reg'ion 7. Popuìarìty of jndiv'idual reaches of 15 rivers and streams 22 in the Taranakì region 8. Pref erred ang'l i ng methods used on 15 ri vers and streams 'in 23 the Taranaki region 9. Participation in other recreational actìvities associated 24 with angling on 15 rivers and streams in the Taranaki region 10. R'ivers and streams of regional or local importance 'in the 35 Taranaki region F IGURES 1. The Tananaki regì on B 2. The Taranak'i Accl ì mati satì on Soci ety d1stri ct 9 3. The Hawera and Stratford Accl'imatìsatìon Society districts 10 PREFACE The rivers and streams of New Zealand, many of which support salmon on trout fisheries, are the subiect of frequent water management dec'is'ions. Some of these decisions nesult in sjgn'ifìcant altenat'ions to existing fish habitat, thereby reduc'ing anglìng opportunit'ies. Any case presented by fisheries interests to either the regional water board or the National Water and Soil Conservation Authority (NWASCA), 'in suppor"t of a parti cul ar ri ver, wì'll obvi ous'ly be strengthened by the inclusion of information about the angìing experience afforded by that ri ver. As hydro-electric, irni gation, and other ri ver developments pìace increasing demands on the remaìnìng freshwaten resource, the need for up to date information on current angìing usage has become acute. Spec'ifically, thene is a need fon comparative data about the relat'ive importance and highly valued aspects of the angfing experience offered by a panticulan river. Such information will enable water managers to take into account the angling value of a nivelin a reg'ional or national context, rather than in isolation as tends to happen at present. In 1979, Fi sheni es Research Di vi s'ion (FRD ) of the M'ini stry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF ), with the New Zealand acclimat'isation societjes, began a postal survey of anglers in all acclimatisat'ion districts with significant sales of fishing ìicences. The survey had f our ma jor object'ives: 1. To collect, directly from the adu'lt angì'ing population of New Zealand, quantitat'ive and comparative information on every river supporti ng a si gnì fi cant sponts fi shery. 2. To identify those attributes which characterise rivers of i mportance. 3. To determìne fnom this 'information ri vers which constitute fi sherì es of nati onal , regional, and local importance. 4. To obtain a data base for future work. Lake fisheries were deliberately excluded from the survey because ìr was considered impractical to des'ign a sìn91e questionnaire capable of coping adequately with the full range of lake and river fisherìes. A quest'ionna'i re bookl et, contai ni ng a li st of ri vers w'ithi n a gi ven accl i mat'isati on d'istri ct, was ma'i I ed to ang'lers i n each soci ety . Anglers were asked to ident'ify rivers which they had fìshed over 3-5 years and to assess for each n'iven its importance to them (on a 1-5 scale) and the relative importance of seven l'isted qualities (distance from home, access, area of fishable water, scenic beauty, feel'ings of peace and sol'itude, catch rate, and si ze of f ish ) 'in determì nì ng why they fìshed that river. Information was also requested on average number of v'isits, stretch of waten fished, fìshìng method used, and any associ ated recreati ona'l act'i v'ity. 0f nrore than 10 700 anglers contacted, about 4000 completed the'ir booklets, which provided over 20 500'individual assessments of more than 800 rivers and stneams throughout the country. The present series of reports uses these assessments to i denti fy, 'in each accl i mati sat'ion society district, rivers which are regionalìy and local1y 'important. Nationally important angìing rivers have already been identified by Teìrney, Unwin, Rowe, McDowaìì, and Graynoth (1982), but are also discussed 'in this series. Because of the sheer volume of data collected, and the amount of detailed'information conta'ined w'ithin the data, a fulì anaìysis of every river was not possible and fon some n'ivers on'ly the raw data are presented. 7 1. INTRODUCTION The Taranaki catchment area, on the west coast of the North Island, comprises three separate accl'imat'isat'ion society districts; Taranaki, Hawera, and Stratfond. Co'llectiveìy, these w'ill be referred to as the Taranaki region in this repont (Fig. 1). Because of soc'iety boundary locations, many rivers in this region flow through more than one accl'imatisation soc'iety district (F'igs.2 and 3) and are fished by angì ers f rom th roughout the Tananak'i reg'ion . To avoi d sp1 i tt'i ng up and repeat'ing data on these rivers, results from all three districts have been combi ned 'in thi s report.