Angler usage of New Zealand lake and river fisheries Results from the 2014/15 National Angling Survey Prepared for Fish & Game New Zealand July 2016 Prepared by : 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 PO Box 8602 Riccarton Christchurch 8011 Phone +64 3 348 8987 NIWA CLIENT REPORT No: 2016021CH Report date: July 2016 NIWA Project: FGC15502 Quality Assurance Statement Reviewed by: Dr. Phillip Jellyman Formatting checked by: Tracy Webster Approved for release by: Helen Rouse © 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. 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Contents Summary ............................................................................................................................ 6 1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 7 1.1 Freshwater angling in New Zealand.......................................................................... 7 2 Survey design and implementation .......................................................................... 10 2.1 Scope, format, and objectives ................................................................................ 10 2.2 Licence types and strata ......................................................................................... 11 2.2.1 FGNZ licences .......................................................................................... 11 2.2.2 Taupo Conservancy licences .................................................................... 13 2.3 Sample design ......................................................................................................... 14 2.3.1 FGNZ surveys ........................................................................................... 14 2.3.2 Taupo Conservancy surveys .................................................................... 15 2.4 Interview procedures .............................................................................................. 15 2.4.1 Protocol and general technique .............................................................. 15 2.4.2 Identification of waters fished ................................................................ 16 2.4.3 Angling effort ........................................................................................... 17 2.4.4 Closing the interview ............................................................................... 18 2.5 Data auditing ........................................................................................................... 18 2.5.1 Telephone interviews (Strata 1 and 2) .................................................... 18 2.5.2 Intended target waters (Stratum 3) ........................................................ 20 2.5.3 Cross-boundary fishing ............................................................................ 21 2.6 Data analysis ........................................................................................................... 21 3 Results .................................................................................................................... 23 3.1 Angler demographics .............................................................................................. 23 3.2 Usage of river and lake fisheries ............................................................................. 24 3.2.1 Data sets and analyses ............................................................................ 24 3.2.2 National and regional totals .................................................................... 25 3.3 Temporal trends ..................................................................................................... 30 3.4 Regional summaries ................................................................................................ 32 3.4.1 Northland region ..................................................................................... 32 3.4.2 Auckland/Waikato region ........................................................................ 32 3.4.3 Eastern region ......................................................................................... 33 3.4.4 Taupo Conservancy ................................................................................. 34 3.4.5 Taranaki region ........................................................................................ 34 3.4.6 Hawkes Bay region .................................................................................. 35 3.4.7 Wellington region .................................................................................... 36 Angler usage of New Zealand lake and river fisheries 3.4.8 Nelson/Marlborough region ................................................................... 37 3.4.9 West Coast region ................................................................................... 38 3.4.10 North Canterbury region ......................................................................... 39 3.4.11 Central South Island region ..................................................................... 40 3.4.12 Otago region ............................................................................................ 42 3.4.13 Southland region ..................................................................................... 44 3.5 Cross-boundary fishing ........................................................................................... 45 3.5.1 FGNZ regions ........................................................................................... 45 3.5.2 Overseas visitors ...................................................................................... 46 3.5.3 Dual FGNZ and Taupo Conservancy licence holders ............................... 50 3.6 Influence of water type, source of flow, and land cover ........................................ 51 4 Discussion ............................................................................................................... 53 4.1 Scope and coverage ................................................................................................ 53 4.2 Data quality ............................................................................................................. 53 4.3 National trends ....................................................................................................... 53 4.4 Taupo Conservancy results ..................................................................................... 54 4.5 Future developments .............................................................................................. 55 5 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. 57 6 References ............................................................................................................... 58 Appendix A Estimated usage for New Zealand lake and river fisheries recorded in the 2014/15 National Angling Survey ............................................................... 60 Appendix B Estimated usage for New Zealand lake and river fisheries recorded in the 1994/95 - 2014/15 National Angling Surveys ............................................ 105 Tables Table 2-1: 2014/15 FGNZ fishing licence sales by licence type. 12 Table 2-2: 2014/15 FGNZ fishing licence sales by Region and stratum. 12 Table 2-3: Distribution of overseas visitor (Stratum 4) FGNZ licence holders by origin. 15 Table 2-4: Total licence sales, target sample sizes, and actual sample sizes for Stratum 1 by Region and survey period. 19 Table 2-5: Sample sizes and total licence sales for Stratum 3 by region and survey period. 21 Table 3-1: Sales of FGNZ whole-season fishing licences for the 2014/2015 angling season in relation to population figures from the 2013 Census, by FGNZ region. 23 Table 3-2: Total angling effort for the 2014/15 season (thousands of angler-days ± 1 standard error) by fishing region and water type (river vs. lake). 27 Table 3-3: Total angling effort for the 2014/15 season (thousands of angler-days ± 1 standard error) by licence region and survey stratum. 28 Angler usage of New Zealand lake and river fisheries Table 3-4: Total angling effort for the 2014/15 season (thousands of angler-days ± 1 standard error) by fishing region and survey period. 29 Table 3-5: Annual trends in estimated annual usage by New Zealand resident anglers (angler-days x 1000 ± 1 SE), 1994/95 to 2014/15 by FGNZ region. 30 Table 3-6: Estimated annual effort (angler-days ± 1 standard error) by season for four sub-regions within the West Coast region, ordered from north to south. 39 Table 3-7: Estimated annual effort (angler-days + 1 standard error) expended in 2014/15 on eight east coast South Island rivers sustaining recognised salmon fisheries. 39 Table 3-8: Estimated