Back from the Western Island of NZ

July 23, 201412 yr

Hi all,

well its been a long time since I've been on this forum. It has grown so much in 3 years. Good to see the hobby is still going strong in this grand country of ours.

Ive just spent 3 years in Perth, WA. Had some amazing experiences but unfortunately had to make a swift move home. Dont get me wrong I love Aotearoa but the economy has a long way to go (yes Australia is strong, but they have gold, iron etc).

I was living in Tauranga, now I am in Gisborne. If anyone can point me in the direction of clubs or perhaps give me a shout if youre in the area.

Whilst there I took on a different variety of fish keeping. Most (if not all) of us will have heard of Aquaponics or the methods thereof.

It is such a big topic and science there. This would come with the freely non restricted trade of edible aquatic species. Trout, Silver Perch, Jade Perch, Cod, and Baramundi are at the top of the list, lets not forget the yabbies and marron. Fingerlings easy to find/buy at the local.

The biggest passion of Aquaponics is being able to grow spray free home grown organic plants/veges. Healthy eating and juicing has taken a hard hold in Australia because of this practice. Over there though the soil has a lot of sand, the environment in some places is arid.

I can understand why NZ have it massively restricted on holding (using) many of the fresh water species here, but the community of keepers that I have been part of in WA are very responsible and avid conservationists because of the science and research behind keeping species in a safe and respectable manner towards the ecosystem and environment. NZ have a long way to go, and Australia have a lot to learn from us.

I know this will create some controversy as this is an age old issue. I firmly believe that the government(DOC, F&G) should give the control back to the people such as US. Let us create a separate entity of the people, where we talk over with the government what we would like to use, create a plan, a learning educated programme, of respect for the species, responsibility for the environment/ecosystem, and to bring our tamariki into this.

Anyway my rant over haha. Its good to be back. My hopes and futures of my fish keeping hobby will lean towards the teachings of Stella. Bring back the Natives haha.

Cheers :thup:

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