Koi export bid deemed too risky

A commercial bid to export noxious koi carp from waterways has potentially "horrendous and irreversible" effects, the Department of Conservation says.

Auckland company New Zealand Waterways has filed a High Court action challenging DoC's decision not to allow the company to catch and export the pest fish.

Director Gray Jamieson said DoC was "unreasonable" in denying his company the chance to completely eradicate the fish, which was destroying waterways and causing millions of dollars in damage.

The company planned to catch koi for export to Europe and Asia as ornamental pets and eventually eradicate the pest altogether with a pest fish management system, using targeted pellets to kill brood stock of koi carp.

However, DoC's Auckland area manager, Beau Fraser, said the department had no problem with Mr Jamieson removing carp from waterways - as long as he did not export them. There were "a number of risks associated with the operation", particularly Mr Jamieson's proposal to use a fish farm to hold koi at Warkworth, and the lack of contingency plans should an accidental release occur.

The species, which was introduced illegally in the 1960s, is an "unwanted organism" - the highest designation for pests under the Biosecurity Act.

At present, most koi are "contained" within waterways in Auckland and Waikato plus some isolated pockets elsewhere. In the late 1990s, DoC launched a multimillion-dollar eradication programme to get rid of the few koi discovered in the South Island. However, DOC says complete eradication in the North Island is impossible, and has opted for "containment".

Mr Fraser said DoC was not stopping Mr Jamieson from fishing for koi.

- NZPA