Programme helps eels make 5000km journey to breed
19 Apr, 2021 03:30 AM
3 minutes to read
Catching eels in Lake Wānaka to save them. Made with funding from NZ On Air. Video / ODT
Catching eels in Lake Wānaka to save them. Made with funding from NZ On Air. Video / ODT
Otago Daily Times
By: Kerrie Waterworth
Catching slimy longfin eels slithering in the bottom of a boat and bagging them is the hardest part of Contact Energy eel fisherman Tony Hishon s job.
Since December Hishon, of Te Anau, and fellow eel fisherman Chris Ramage, of Invercargill, have spent 40 days on lakes Wakatipu, Hawea and Wānaka, trapping and transferring large longfin eels wanting to leave the lakes for the Clutha River and eventually out to sea to breed.