Students to fill their stockings with fish

Members of the Otago Students' Spearfishing and Hunting Club, David Hudson (left) and Louis Brown...
Members of the Otago Students' Spearfishing and Hunting Club, David Hudson (left) and Louis Brown, will have access to new territory along the Otago and Southland coastline after buying a boat. Photo by Craig Baxter.
Santa came early for the Otago Students' Spearfishing and Hunting Club with the arrival of a new boat.

Club co-founder Louis Brown said the Naiad Scout 3.8 would allow club members to fill their stockings - otherwise known as aqua sacks - with bounty from the sea.

The club recently bought the boat for $6500 from the University of Otago School of Physical Education and, although it was made in 1994 and had previously been used for aquatic practical exercises and physical education research, it still had plenty of life in it, Mr Brown said.

The boat was a welcome addition, not just because it would enhance the enjoyment of their hobby but because it would also help students to make their dollars stretch further, he said.

''It's beyond recreation.

''This is more a way of life where students are going out to get food to share with their flatmates.

''So much of Otago and Southland is inaccessible to spearfishing and hunting. This boat will open up so many more opportunities for spearhunters to gather food.

''So many students will be scrambling around in the specials bin at the supermarket, and there is all this high-quality fresh protein out there, just waiting to be taken.''

Mr Brown said the club was established 12 months ago and in that time it had attracted more than 100 members.

So it was with relative ease that the club raised the $6500 needed to buy the boat during the past four months by doing ''anything from meat raffles to clearing gorse on the Taieri''.

The boat has not been officially named yet. Several excursions in the new acquisition were planned for club members in the coming months, Mr Brown said.

- john.lewis@odt.co.nz

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