Threatened eels becoming pet food

19/06/2013 7:46:43 p.m.

Melanie wrote:

I watched this documentary the other week where these 2 south island fishers were catching eels to send overseas and I was thinking to myself 'hey arent these long finned eels endangered' well I dont feel guilty catching an eel down the creek after watching them pull out thousands to send overseas but after watching Cambell Live tonight I'm starting to feel guilty again and wish I never caught it :(

5/06/2013 9:36:54 a.m.

Hazel wrote:

Thank goodness DoC and Forest and Bird are concerned and are making a stance about this interesting native fish. They only breed towards the end of their long life, so many (and increasingly many, many more) never get the chance to breed. Us Kiwis take Long-fin eels for granted and only show concern for cute animals. Yet these Long-fins are in real trouble AND sweet nothing much is being done about it!! I can't believe that commercial fisheries are still allowed to harvest these at-risk species AND pet-food companies are creating a demand for eel meat too! What are our law-making politicians up to? (Are NZ'ers looking at where their pets' food comes from?) Yep - as long as NZ's economy keeps growing, more industries, more people employed, grow in exports, our government is happy - stuff the long-term environmental cost! We won't be around for it to bother us...yet.... We have a responsibility to leave our country (and it's waters) in a state so our children can live, as we are living. Not just (as we do) with only memories of many extinct species that once lived here in our beautiful lands, wondering "What was it like? How did it live?" - and with just a picture and some dusty skeleton in a city museum....That's the future of our Long-fins. It's tragic that so few people are concerned. Even worse is that people who could do something to prevent it, are not bothered. What's the real cost, not just the economic gain/loss, from the decline of this fragile animal? C'mon kiwis!!!....we have to do something about this! Ask your local MP, your local DoC office about how to help....before it's too late & Long-fins too, are just a memory, a dusty museum skeleton, or on show in a wildlife zoo.

24/07/2012 10:59:05 a.m.

Richard wrote:

Typical double standard of Twig and Tweet (Forest & Bird) - they advocate and support the use of 1080 poison which kills eels. Watch Poisoning Paradise on youTube for more info.

15/07/2012 11:49:41 a.m.

Sooji wrote:

I wholeheartedly agree with this.

If you haven't, i'd recommend to go visit the aquarium/wildlife centre in Hokitika, it has a massive "eel city" round tank with hundreds of eels - an awesome thing to see especially when they tell you the age and complex life cycle of those beauties.

We don't deserve our clean-green image. We are actually pretty shocking as a nation, we barely recycle in comparison to many other countries we consider "dirty" (such as Asian countries... visit South Korea and look at their structured recycling!) and the only reason we get away with it is our really low population density.

We are kidding ourselves that we are clean and green, and we really need to wake up and start sorting it out before we lose this undeserved image.

5/07/2012 1:42:07 p.m.

KyleP wrote:

I'm glad this is finally getting press time. I didn't know about the pet food scandal but the long finned eel issue has been well documented for untold years and is well known throughout the environmental sector. This is a national shame, doesn't do anything for our clean and green image (which impacts on our economy big time), and the concept of anyone eating our endangered species is completely abhorrent to me (regardless of what kind of endangered species they are). The Eel stocks need a chance to recover - 50-100 years or so of no commercial fishing and active protection followed by strict controls and active monitoring or we risk losing them forever and forever is a very long time. Not on my watch please! NZ has already lost too many endangered species. PS: I eat meat and fish, and I have a dog so I believe my viewpoint is quite balanced.

28/06/2012 10:14:46 a.m.

Desmond Heke wrote:

Very sad to see how the quota mgmt system allows commercial expolitation of a taonga. I would like to know who has given them the quota, where it has been purchased from. Could Campbell live follow this up please...maybe under the official information act?

27/06/2012 6:27:35 p.m.

Tiopira H Rauna wrote:

I have had oral interviews with a number of my kaumatua recently. Some are 80 years of age. They lived in Mangatu near Whatatutu, Gisborne where they say the eels in 1950 were 4 feet wide when smoked.

27/06/2012 2:18:20 p.m.

the DR wrote:

we will miss our assets when thay are gone to but but we will probilly get more for our ells one more thing gone out the back door

27/06/2012 7:52:47 a.m.

Ella Gill wrote:

Totally agree Ross. Commercial quotas are just one part of the fight however this is one that we could do now that will help. Some of us, like you, are working on the other issues. Campbell Live would be good to highlight this as well whilst this item is topical.

26/06/2012 8:37:15 p.m.

Ross McWilliams wrote:

I have been working with Wai Care, DoC and other various groups for years now to try and educate others on how special our long finned eels are to our country and no one seems to care or listen. Just because they are 'out of sight' doesn't mean they should be 'out of mind'. The fishing of these eels is not just the problem. It is the pollution of our local streams from industrial work, public and other sources that are a large part of the decline of these eels. 3 News: If you would like more information, feel free to contact me and my team.