The little gollum galaxias that swims in the chill waters of the Nevis River in Otago, is no friend of the Department of Conservation, it transpires.
DoC, whom you'd expect would be more than willing to go into bat for a native fish as rare and special as the gollum, is instead spurning the 'outstanding characteristic', as the fish is described.
Why?
They've made a deal with a power company.
They've traded-off the river in which the galaxid swims.
And they won't challenge the renewed attempts by the company to gain the rights to dam the river.
This, in my opinion, is low and illustrates the danger of running conservation on a tradeable basis, a system that the Government favours and seeks to implement across the 'conservation board'.
Where does that leave the little fish?
Without the protection of the very department that should fight tooth and nail for creatures like gollum galaxis.
A Special Tribunal hearing determined that the Nevis River should not be dammed because it was a unique habitat to the gollum. Pioneer Energy hasn't accepted that finding and is pressing to overturn the ruling.
The Department of Conservation are looking the other way, maintaining a 'neutral stance'.
That's not what you are there for DoC.
Shame.
6 comments:
Oh, oh, lets make weak acronyms for DoC -Department of Condonation
Devoid of Common-sense?
I wrote a letter to the editor...
It looks as though gollum is doomed.
Very rare and very threatened, the little native freshwater fish gollum galaxias looks as though it will lose its fight for survival, now that Pioneer Energy has moved to dam the Nevis River.
The Department of Conservation should of course, be standing up to the dam-builders, but they’re not. They’ve traded away their concern for the river and won’t challenge Pioneer, leaving the endangered fish to swim or sink.
Seems we can save the Hobbit, but we don’t care at all for gollum.
Well to be fair Robert I think the majority of people would say Gollum can burn in hell.
Did you see what he did to that nice Mr Frodo? called em a tricksy hobbit and evry fing, and bit off ezz finga!
As a side note, all the "master" baiters managed to get a good slaughter of Galaxiids up here in the end. There was one picture in the paper of a 'baiter' with a net and screen about half way across a tiny watercourse 'strain em out and fry em up'!! (or sell for a billion bucks!)
Ban the sale of the stuff I say, people need to stop 'master' baiting for money.
It really amazes me that 'most people' have a view on anything written by JR Tolkien Shunda. Such an obscure trilogy, the LOTR was, back in the day, pre-Jackson. Now it seems, New Zealanders are willing to march in the streets to its Elvish tune.
Bizarre!
As to the 'baiters - those hyper-inflated prices are causing a massive attack on the little fishes, much in the way the whole fishing industry works.
The Avon River charade continues I see. I'll post on it soon. I have a school (Arrowtown) coming into the museum shortly to experience the tuatara and I need to brush up my sphenodontia-handling skills. Those guys bite hard!
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