NZ anglers angered by loss of prime spots

Local fishers are growing increasingly concerned New Zealand's best fishing spots are being hijacked by wealthy foreigners, an anglers' group says.

In a growing number of "exclusive capture" deals, mostly in prime backcountry, "large sums" have been paid to landowners for the sole right to fish on their land, the New Zealand Federation of Freshwater Anglers told Fairfax Media.

Wealthy foreigners and celebrities pay thousands of dollars for helicopter fishing expeditions on New Zealand's top trout rivers, but there are fears more access will be lost to ordinary local fly fishermen - thought to be about 100,000.

Federation president Jim Hale said parts of rivers in the North Island and South Island had been captured by "unscrupulous commercial interests".

"It is practised by those who have captured these trout fishing waters for their own financial profiteering, even though the running water and the fish within them do not belong to them.

"We will fight this scourge wherever we find it, with whoever is involved, with all of the determination and resources at our disposal," Mr Hale said.

Mr Hale, a Manawatu farmer, singled out the upper Rangitikei and Mohaka rivers in the North Island as among those affected. "This is a slow creeping cancer and we've decided to put a stake in the ground and say `no more'."

The Government says the deals are the "legitimate right of a property owner" but it has asked the new Walking Access Commission to try to negotiate for open access "where there is access restricted".

- NZPA