Snap Shot

There's a trout centre in Turangi on the North Island. It's a good centre for information, but I didn't see any trout for sale. I saw a sign for a trout counter. Good I thought, I'll get some there. So I continued along the lane by the river and read the sign that explained how the trout were counted as they swam through this channel ! I did feel a bit silly when I realised my mistake !

My nark about fish in NZ is that the prawns (well, ok, shrimps then) come from Thailand, Vietnam etc and are awful i.e. big, chewy and tasteless. What's the deal with calling them cutlets ? Or worse still, prawn meat. I miss those little pink sweet north sea prawns I used to get in Britain. My husband is mystified why they don't fish them or farm them in the Southern Ocean.

Anyway, I've learned to compromise (I mean this is NZ after all) and cook Thai prawns from raw. Doing it this way is nothing more than the best of the worst really.

BEVS

Crabs.

Snap Shot

Thought you had left all that behind you now that you live in Australia.

Fishing permits are available at most fishing tackle shops in the UK.

I wonder how much vitriol will now be directed at me ?

lardyl

how so?
NZ has no real public footpaths, no right to roam and lots of land tied up with people that the average person arriving in an area is not going to have access to.
it may not be Lord such-and-such with the rights but someone has them.
most fishable areas are available in the UK via permits and the rod licence.
don't think you could take out a rifle and go stalking on most land in the UK though as other people are free to walk it. you can't do that in NZ either unless there is control over the land, and even then people get killed/maimed, be it around campsites or on organised "lamping" shoots.
NZ has far more "spare" land to play with so although some of it is tied up with landowners there is still more to go round for the hunters - that's a simple case of supply and demand.

lardyl

you don't need a permit for fishing in the sea/easturies only freshwater fishing
and kids don't have to pay, go into the fishing shop and ask for a kids one - not for you of course.

DC10

access rights are called the "queen's chain", and it means that a property owner cannot stop you "roaming" within 22 yards of a NZ river. suggest you look it up

in britain it is possible to "own" rivers and their banks

as for hunting, my understanding is that there are few restrictions for hunting on crown land, which makes up a huge portion of rural NZ

Snap Shot

Many people assume there has always been an "automatic" "Queen's Chain" along all New Zealand rivers, around all lakes and beside the sea. In fact that isn't the case; there is no legal device called the "Queen's Chain". It is a popular term for a variety of land status types which provide public access and/or protect conservation values beside many, but certainly not all, water bodies in many different places and under varying circumstances. The term "Queen's Chain" has its origins in Queen Victoria's instructions to Governor Hobson in 1840. The instruction read:

"It is our will and pleasure, and we do strictly require and enjoin you, that you do not on any account, or on any pretence whatsoever, grant, convey or demise to any person or persons any of the land so specified as fit to be reserved as aforesaid, nor permit or suffer any such lands to be occupied by any private person or for any private purpose."

The chain was in fact the surveyor's actual measure of the day. It consisted of metal links each measuring 7.93 imperial inches, with 100 such links being the full chain or 22 yards. With metrification the current equivalent is 20m. Queen Victoria's instructions, however well respected, needed to be incorporated in practice and law to have effect. Early provincial surveyors adopted various practices and the earliest legislation requiring reservation of land adjacent to water goes back to the Land Act 1892 which applied solely to dispositions (sales) of Crown land. Many earlier dispositions failed to set aside the Queen's Chain so while there was significant provision for reservations, the popular concept of the Queen's Chain as a universal right is in fact mistaken.

There are many water bodies that do have public access. Some areas are known as "marginal strips". These areas are created under the Conservation Act 1987. The Act provides that whenever the Crown disposes of land, a 20m strip is to be created along side a river or stream (having an average width of 3m or more), and along and abutting a lake or foreshore. The legislation also provides the Minister of Conservation with authority to reduce or waive these requirements in certain circumstances. A marginal strip should not be confused with an "esplanade reserve" or an "esplanade strip" which are usually created at the time of subdivision under the Resource Management Act or the earlier Local Government Act.

Snap Shot

I did look it up Mr Wannabe Australian. To bad you didn't.

Snap Shot

Marginal strips are administered by DOC. Esplanade reserves are generally administered by local authorities. Esplanade strips are governed by a legal agreement between a local authority and an adjoining landowner. Such an agreement can limit rights of public access.
From time to time, the land adjoining waterways shifts or erodes. Marginal strips created prior to 1990 and esplanade reserves have fixed boundaries. Where the boundary of the foreshore, lake or river course alters on a marginal strip created after 1990, then a new marginal strip is formed adjoining the watercourse, and the old strip is extinguished.

Where there are no esplanade reserves, marginal strips or access agreements or where no other protective land status exists, and the land appears to adjoin the water's edge, it may well be that the private landowner has riparian rights. To avoid any possible issues with private landowners, it always pays to check if public access is available to your favourite fishing spot and if not to ask the landowners permission.

Snap Shot

Where I come from in the UK there were plenty of public footpaths and parks to walk to and through. In NZ I've not seen any public footpaths at all. An inviting looking lane is someone's private driveway. In Britain it may have been part of or parallel to a public footpath. Not here. We would have to go and find a formal trail.

There's a nice park here. I believe there is more land in private ownership i.e. farms, land owners property in NZ. As had been previously remarked on, there's no right to roam in NZ.

So, you'll stay in Aus then, yes ?

DC10

if you really want to believe that there is better public fishing access on british rivers than on nz rivers then i can live with you believing that, however ridiculous

my "wannnabe" australian passport number is N2213895. and yes, the job scene certainly feels more promising so think i will be here at least in the medium term

Snap Shot

Well as neither of us is likely to be fishing in the UK anytime soon, it's you who's being ridiculous.

How much fishing do you do in Australia that's got nothing to do UK rivers or fishing permits. Do you see how laughable you are being ?

I mean do you even own a rod ? BTW if you do, I really do not need it's seral number.

Was that really your Australian Passport number Are you really daft enough to put it on a public forum ? What's next ? Your ird number and d.o.b ? Do they not have identity fraud in Aus ? Oh I was forgetting: she'll be right mate in God's own country.

scrubbedexpat094

I miss crabs & rainbow trout too.

I assume you're talking about seafood crabs BEVS & not any other type

Charismatic

$116 for a permit to fish? How much is the fine if you are caught without but you are a polite foreignish person and had no idea?

theghostofdustybin

I think you can get cream...