Sunday, 17 January 2021, 3:29 pm
A drastic decline in an important native fish in New
Zealand has been matched by a similar decline in a similar
species in the USA.
On the east coast of the South
Island Stokell’s smelt is the species of the rivers of the
Canterbury coastline, which until relatively recently,
occurred in huge numbers from about Canterbury’s Waiau
River south to North Otago's Waitaki River.
However
depletion of river flows due to irrigation in rivers such as
the Rangitata, Ashburton, and Rakaia Rivers where the smelt
was most abundant, has seen a drastic decline in numbers,