The Otago Fish & Game Council announced that in partnership with Clutha Mata-Au Sportsfish and Habitat Trust, it had discovered only the second known spawning site for Lake Wānaka’s landlocked Chinook salmon.
Otago Fish & Game said anglers in the Upper Clutha had known there were still salmon in the lake, but following a steep population decline in the 2000s, no-one knew exactly where they were spawning.
Catch rates for salmon crashed, while numbers in the neighbouring lakes Wakatipu and Hāwea remained robust.
‘‘For many years we knew these fish were still there, but we had very little understanding of where they were spawning.’’
He was grateful anglers had taken the time to report their catches and sightings.
‘‘Their information has directly contributed to improving our understanding of this fishery.’’
Unlike large salmon that return from the sea, Wānaka’s landlocked Chinook salmon were smaller and difficult to survey with aerial monitoring, due to their habit of spawning only in remote streams and dying soon afterwards.
Otago Fish & Game had its first breakthrough in 2023, when spawning salmon were discovered in a tributary of the Makarora River, before this winter’s discovery in the Wilkin River catchment.
The Wilkin River flows into Lake Wānaka from the west, just south of Makarora. — Allied Media
