AUCKLAND/WAIKATO FISH & GAME NEWSBRIEF If you require further elaboration or clarification of items contained herein, or any other matters relating to F&GC business, please don’t hesitate to contact your local ward councillor or the office Matters Arising from Council Meeting of 18 April 2015 It was agreed that a quorum was not present, which requires a majority of Councillors, and thus all resolutions would need to be ratified at the next meeting of Council.  Councillor Annan informed the meeting that there had been a minor botulism outbreak involving about a dozen birds at the Te Kuiti sewage treatment plant. Councillor Cocks reported that 300-400 birds had died at the Manukau sewage treatment plant.  A letter was tabled from Doug Emmett reminding Councillors of the inordinate amount of time, effort, energy and personal expense that Councillors Williamson and Cocks had spent on wetland restoration projects on Council land. Councillors supported Mr Emmet’s recommendation that the name of the Eastern Whangamarino Wetland be changed to the Williamson Wetland.  Councillors acknowledged and expressed their considerable appreciation for the huge effort of Jenn Sheppard on the mallard research project.  Councillors regretfully decline the invitation of Hawkes Bay F&G to attend a special meeting in Hawkes Bay to discuss Duck Management Units. However, Council supported increased communication between game management staff on DMU.  Letter tabled from Lindsay Lyons, Chairman of NZF&G, on the non-resident fishing licence. It was noted that Council would have to designate specific waters as back country fisheries and the extra funding from the non-resident licence should be kept in a designated fund.  Mr Wilson gave an update of the Section 128 Review for the Lake Waikare /Whangamarino Flood Scheme. He agreed to keep Councillors informed of the timetable for the Hearings at Te Kauwhata which would be open to the public.  Mr Wilson was authorised to sign the Memorandum of Understanding and the Deed of Licence to Occupy between the Matamata/Piako District Council and the Auckland/Waikato F&G Council pertaining to the Howarth Memorial Wetland.  Councillors agreed that up to $3,000 be allocated from restricted funds for river clearance works on the upper Ongarue River, with Council funding 50% of the total cost.  After extensive and wide ranging discussion on the 2015/16 budget it was agreed that the 2015/16 draft budget of $713,049 (not including $43,240 to be sought from the National budgeting process) and the 2015 Operational Work Plan be approved.  Councillors agreed that zon guns should be hired out at $2 per day for landowners, $25 per week for District Councils, with a bond of $100.  It was agreed that Councillor Murray’s paper on releasing captive reared mallards be placed on the agenda for the November meeting of Council and that staff be asked to provide a report on the paper’s recommendations. Matters Arising From Chief Executive’s Report 1. Drift diving: Adam Daniel has tallied this year’s drift dive data and is waiting to complete a second dive on the Awakino to finalise drift dive reports for 2015. 2. Hydro Lakes: The hydro lake data was reviewed and stocking recommendations have been put into the 2015 stocking program review report. 3. Game Bird Research Meeting: David Klee hosted a F&G game bird research meeting. It was agreed that at this stage we were most interested in establishing some baseline information to compare with banding data. This data will be used to assess population trends over time and be similar to the aerial transect data which is already being collected in Eastern, Wellington and Taranaki. The end use of the data will be to set thresholds where restrictive, intermediate and relaxed season regulations will apply. 4. PhD Project Mallard Productivity: Our senior field tech for the 2015 season Jillian Cosgrove arrived in February. She has been busy getting into some of last year’s data and beginning her analysis. Jillian is writing a report on the effects of habitat fragmentation on the nest success of New Zealand mallards, using data collected in the 2014 field season. 5. Landowner and Volunteer Dinner: Another good evening where the mallard telemetry group wanted to thank landowners and volunteers for their efforts and access during the project. Dinner was followed by a relatively informal presentation and questions. A big thank you to Councillor Rex Murray, Harmony Foods, Old Creamery Cafe, Te Awamutu Cakes, Fish City and Hammond Calls for sponsoring the event. 6. Waikato River/ Healthy Rivers Project: Staff have attended the launch of the Waikato River Restoration Strategy and the Healthy Rivers Workshop, Healthy Rivers Collaborative Stakeholders Group, and a public meeting to discuss the state of Lake Karapiro meeting. 7. Lake Waikare/Whangamarino Flood Scheme Section 128 Review: The Hearing date has been set for May 11 and is likely to go for at least a week. Staff have attended the Lake Waikare & Whangamarino Wetland Catchment Management Plan Workshop, and a Prehearing meeting. The Governance Committee meeting was attended by councillor David Cocks. 8. Auckland Unitary Plan: Adam Daniel will be presenting at several relevant hearings scheduled for mid-May. 9. Wetland Workshop: Staff attended the 2 day wetland workshop held in Eastern Bay of Plenty. It was a good networking exercise with a number of WRC, DoC and EBOP staff in attendance. This provided Fish and Game the opportunity to showcase the type of wetlands we strive to create and discuss consenting restraints and how to best deal with these. 10. Hauraki Rail Trail: John Dyer met with Opus and Waikato Regional Council about the new Trail that will connect cyclists travelling to and from Miranda to Thames along the mangrove-fringed back of many Firth of Thames coastal farms. This area receives a certain amount of hunting use and the concern was that this could create a conflict. 11. Northern Parrie Season: The Special Paradise Duck season saw a slight increase in the usual number of permits issued, 121, and there seemed to be plenty of birds in good locations. 12. Surveillance: Adam Daniel set up surveillance cameras on a potential poaching operation. Over 300 pictures were collected and no poaching of trout was detected.