Thread: 1080 KILLING FISH

I see no reason for DOC AHB or the pro 1080 lobby to try to spread 'pixie dust' over this story it is a real disaster for all of us.

I see the warnings. Don't eat fish out of 1080 areas or the catchment downstream of a 1080 area. But how far downstream.

I have seen a spring flush of water clear all of the trout out of the headwaters of our streams and it sometime takes several months for the fish to return. Some of these fish may end up half way down to the ocean.

In some reports they say that these fish are loaded enough to kill a dog. Those of us that hunt with dogs want to know how we protect them. Dogs cant read.

In 2002 after a 1080 drop in the Forest behind the little settlement of Te Puru a few miles up the coast from here, they had a 'Weather Bomb' I went and interviewed three locals for a story I did for the Coromandel Chronicle.

When the flood waters receded there were 1080 baits left behind on peoples sections roads and footpaths. Dead possums littered the beaches north and south of the town. All these baits and dead animals came down the Te Puru Stream ( The towns Water Supply).

Five dogs died from 1080 poisoning, more would have if a locals had not brought up all the muzzles on the Coromandel and a local made an emergency trip to Hamilton. We were very lucky that no young child picked up a bait and swallowed it.

A massive effort was required to dispose of the baits and all the carcases littering the beaches and the Te Puru Stream.