Estuary clean-up

Yesterday afternoon, under clear skies and beside calm waters, a team of enthusiastic cleaner-uppers scoured the edges of the Jacob's River estuary, picking up trash. Curiously, most of the team were surfers and their children who themselves are mostly grommits. Funnily enough, one of those found a boogie board amongst the jointed-rushes at the water's edge. I picked up a lot of glass. Following the report on anti-coagulants being found in the livers of fresh-water fish in Southland, I was appalled to find this container washed ashore, and while I'm not sure of it's ex-contents, the logo makes me very suspicious. One of the gleaners is a fisherman who has fished the Aparima since he was 12, maybe 20 years ago, and has kept a record of every fish caught. He said his catch numbers are falling and the size of the fishes reducing along with their condition.