Monthly Archives: December 2025

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Not Freshwater, but aligned closely:- Matt Watson discusses the state of New Zealand’s oceans, including concerns about commercial fishing regulations and their impact on recreational fishing.

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What It Means for Freshwater Anglers Commentary by Andi Cockroft, Chairman, CORANZ The recent High Court decision finding that Environment Canterbury (ECan) made a legal error in allowing nitrate discharges as a permitted activity is an important moment for freshwater management in New Zealand — and one that should matter to every … Continue reading →

Op-Ed by John Davey (a new novice author to NZFFA) The Newsroom article “Murder, the Government Wrote” has struck a nerve — and rightly so. But one reaction to it, offered by freshwater advocate and immediate past-president of NZFFA Peter Trolove, cuts to the heart of the problem: “The bullshit is blaming newly elected councillors for the deeds … Continue reading →

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Why Anglers Are Disappearing from Canterbury’s Waters NZFFA Follow-up to “At Long Last: Canterbury’s Water Is Finally in the Spotlight” Guest Post by Dave Rhodes In our previous article, NZFFA welcomed the long-overdue media attention on Canterbury’s water quality — particularly the growing concern around nitrates in drinking water and groundwater … Continue reading →

— What Needs to Happen Next Guest Post by Dave Rhodes For many freshwater users in Canterbury, the recent RNZ series “What’s really going on with Canterbury’s water?” prompted a familiar reaction: at long last. Not because the problems are new — they are not.Not because the data has suddenly … Continue reading →

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Why Freshwater Fishers Should Care Observation by Andi Cockroft, Chair CORANZ For many years, assurances about the safety of glyphosate have leaned on a small number of highly cited review papers. One of the most influential of these — a 2000 review that concluded glyphosate and Roundup posed no meaningful risk to human … Continue reading →

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Guest post by Dave Rhodes Across the country, pine plantations — and in some places, wilding pines spreading far beyond plantation boundaries — are reshaping New Zealand’s landscapes. For freshwater anglers, river ecologists, and anyone who cares about the health of streams and aquifers, that change is not benign. … Continue reading →

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Across Canterbury, and in other intensive-farming regions, people have been quietly drinking water with elevated nitrate levels for decades. Now the science is catching up – and it makes for grim reading. International studies show that long-term exposure to nitrates in drinking water is associated with a significantly higher … Continue reading →

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Commentary by Andi Cockroft, Chair, CORANZ Lessons from British Columbia for New Zealand** In British Columbia, Canada, something remarkable is happening. In places where open-net pen salmon farms have been removed from key migration routes, many wild salmon runs are beginning to rebound. At the same time, … Continue reading →