We saw this story a couple of days ago and the mouth watering thought of pigeon stew tonight reminded us of the other big foodie opportunity that we are missing.
Sanfords Eric Barratt says its time to lift the commercial ban on trout fishing and he is very right.
As New Zealanders we have this odd habit of doing little to protect our native species but bend over backward in the name of sport to protect introduced species like trout, salmon, Canada geese and mallard ducks. We find it strange that we are not able to harvest the young mallard flappers in the creek bordering our property in what would be a targeted sustained way. We would be happy to register the numbers we caught as well. Similar to fish management. If you know what level of harvest the population can sustain then there should be no restrictions on how you harvest them.
We digress , back to Trout farming - its simply logical and smart and will provide us with another export stream. The fears of disease are unfounded. Wild trout would still be the domain of the gun nuts so there would be no harm to that "industry" either. And it would also see trout served as a dish at top restaurants. And sea run trout will be much better eating than their cousins in muddy creeks. There is often very little difference in the taste of a sea run trout and salmon.
This is not a new idea from Eric, he has been pushing this issue for years and rightly so. He is a big fish in the NZ aquaculture industry and he, better than most, knows the potential for fish farming in this country and the need for diversification of that industry.
Now Fish and Game will squeal at anyone having a right over their precious domain. But it is time for some creative thinking, some bold actions and a change to some legislation that could provide the country with another high end high value niche export.
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