Lake's trout numbers dip - but don't worry | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua
Lake's trout numbers dip - but don't worry
By CHRIS BRAMWELL in Taupo
Flooding of the Tongariro River earlier this year has reduced trout numbers in Lake Taupo.
The Department of Conservation's annual large trout count has found low fish numbers, but officials say things are not as serious as they may seem.
There is a lower fish count about every four or five years which was expected in a wild fishery, technical support programme manager Glenn Maclean said.
"The habitat here is pristine but it is mountainous and we get big floods, droughts and even volcanic eruptions, so when the conditions are good the trout do very well and, conversely, it is a harsh environment and sometimes they take a bit of a knock."
This year's major flooding of the Tongariro River also had an effect on the numbers, which was understandable, he said.
"The young fish spend about 18 months rearing in the rivers so there would have been a number of fish in the river when the February floods struck. It would have been pretty traumatic for them as it was for everyone else."
The survey, which has been done every November since 1988, involves counting trout longer than 35cm using a sophisticated echo-sounder. The department tows the echo-sounder for about 130km across pre-selected sections of the lake.
The count is an index of the size of the trout fishery but represents only a proportion of the total number of fish available to anglers over the whole season.
Mr Maclean said he expected lake fishing to get progressively better over summer as more young trout grew and entered the legal-sized population and other fish returned from spawning.
Flooding of the Tongariro River earlier this year has reduced trout numbers in Lake Taupo.
The Department of Conservation's annual large trout count has found low fish numbers, but officials say things are not as serious as they may seem.
There is a lower fish count about every four or five years which was expected in a wild fishery, technical support programme manager Glenn Maclean said.
"The habitat here is pristine but it is mountainous and we get big floods, droughts and even volcanic eruptions, so when the conditions are good the trout do very well and, conversely, it is a harsh environment and sometimes they take a bit of a knock."
This year's major flooding of the Tongariro River also had an effect on the numbers, which was understandable, he said.
"The young fish spend about 18 months rearing in the rivers so there would have been a number of fish in the river when the February floods struck. It would have been pretty traumatic for them as it was for everyone else."
The survey, which has been done every November since 1988, involves counting trout longer than 35cm using a sophisticated echo-sounder. The department tows the echo-sounder for about 130km across pre-selected sections of the lake.
The count is an index of the size of the trout fishery but represents only a proportion of the total number of fish available to anglers over the whole season.
Mr Maclean said he expected lake fishing to get progressively better over summer as more young trout grew and entered the legal-sized population and other fish returned from spawning.
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