On a Sunday morning in late July we went down to Tangiwai Reserve in West Auckland where we met the rest of the group from the Central Auckland KCC. Paul the fish man gave a long, interesting and informative talk with us about the types of fish we might see, and others found around New Zealand.
Paul had his waders on. They were made of neoprene (wetsuit material) to help keep him warm. He took his nets and a chilly bin to hold any fish he caught, so that we could see them.
We found Inanga, Bully’s and lots of fresh water shrimp, they were the most common. Paul’s helper, an older boy, fell in and got soaked!!
We all walked the river edge as Paul showed us how to look for and catch the fish. We checked traps that he had placed in the river earlier, but there was nothing in them.
I went exploring and found an extremely deep pool with fish in it. I called Paul over and he caught 2 whitebait, he was very pleased indeed!
Back at the car park we looked closer at a few of the fish and shrimp that we found.
We had a lovely morning and we thanked Paul for showing us around and he invited us out to help him catch more native fish that he has to relocate. We learnt that there are fewer NZ native fish today because of pollution and destruction of their habitat from construction and building sites.
By Hannah Westgaard
Age 8 1/2
