Jones hacked off at anglers' fishy mess

ANGRY: Labour list MP Shane Jones is disgusted by fishers who have been dumping snapper carcasses in his local stream. PHOTO/PETER DE GRAAF

A Northland MP is disgusted and "hacked off" by anglers dumping fish carcasses in his local stream.

Labour list MP Shane Jones was taking his regular walk near his home in rural Kerikeri when he spotted at least 15 snapper carcasses, some of then barely legal size, in a stream flowing under the Valencia Lane bridge just off Waimate North Rd.

He was affronted not just by the pollution of a normally clean waterway but also by the waste at a time when many families struggled to put food on the table.

"It does hack me off. It would take five minutes to dig a hole to bury them around here, and it's wasteful," Mr Jones said.

"If recreational fishermen want my support to advance their cause in the snapper debate, don't dump your offal in our streams - and certainly not where I take my daily hikoi (walk)."

Mr Jones did not know who the culprits were but suspected they lived in the area. He was also confident they were not Maori, for whom fish heads were a delicacy.

"I'm pretty sure they're not tangata whenua because every time I see them they're offering me fish heads, not dumping them in the river. And it's unlikely to be Asians because they eat everything, so that narrows down the target," he said.

Mr Jones donned his boots and gloves to retrieve the carcasses, which will be buried in his garden.