Paul Arden wrote:I don't like the spirit of it, and to me it has negative undertones of you're not really welcome here. They've actually just brought out a foreigners license in NZ. I haven't fished NZ for quite a few years - the exchange rate is a bit of a killer now - but I did spend a lot of time out there. Almost 20 seasons.
Something I started to notice maybe 7 years ago was the growing discontent with foreigners fishing "their water". There were articles in magazines about whether they should be charged more or made to fish with a guide. I think essentially they were driven by jealousy. You have the situation on the flip side where a local gets one day off to fish and he finds that some foreigners are already fishing his river or have camped there etc etc. And so this license introduction to me is just an extension of that. I guess they've had enough of us!!
Cheers, Paul
Not even close Paul. Out backcountry fisheries are under immense pressure as you well know and these, surveys have shown are the preferred domain of most tourist anglers. Fish and game nz are not government funded at all. They are spending increasingly more time in court fighting for and protecting our fishery. They need more money. All extra revenue gained from the non resident license is earmarked to go directly back into these backcountry fisheries. The 24 hour license is still available to non resident anglers and one would have to fish around 6 days to match the NZ resident full season license.
So if you fished 7 days and bought a non resident license you would simply be spending less than a pint of beer a day extra. I dont see a problem here and think its fucked that some are claiming 'its the principal'. It certainly hasnt stopped my season from fully booking out and there is only a minority that seemto have a problem with this.
Its cheap, its good. Get over it.