I received the following trip report from a friend who was at Aitutaki recently. It makes pretty sad reading. Makes you wonder if there is any hope for the place when the locals obviously do not care about the status of the island as a destination for fly fishing tourists.

This was the bulk of the report-

“No bones were harmed during this trip.....  but plenty of Trevs were well ****** up on your murderous hooks !

 I saw some monster Boners tailing in the lagoon...all buggered off when cast to…

 An aussie was landing them hand over fist using shrimp and crab meat on a hook and Bubble thingy..... he landed a monster one afternoon...... took him to hell and back for about half an hour..... each to there own .

 Stayed on Akaiami, saw some Bones but very shy... then watched the locals net the bejesus outa the place... dozens of big bones and trevs... parrott , goat fish and worst of all ..........BIG MILK fish !”

 

So – spooky fish, Aussie tourists using bait to catch bones (???) And a bunch of locals netting the hell out of one of the more stunning fly fishing beaches on the planet. That stunningly beautiful Akaiami beach-front can have great shelter, good visibility and – when the netters haven’t buggered the place up- big bones cruising close to the shore. It’s a magical spot, but it’s being rooted by the locals and their need to eat fish.

Obviously there is a need for a source of cheap fish protein on the island. Most of the pelagic fish go straight to the restaurants, the locals eat the stuff netted in the lagoon. There is a need to replace that fish with something else.

You would hope though that the Cook Islands Government could get behind some deepwater drop-lining, or milkfish farming, or… something… anything that might provide Aitutaki with an abundance of relatively cheap eating fish that might take some pressure off the lagoon net fishery.

Without some sort of real initiative from the Government I can’t see a lot of hope for Aitutaki’s bonefish and the lagoon fishery in general.

Sad really.

 

 

 

My dream destination has been shattered!

The trouble is the 'tourist dollar that the bone/ fly fishing etc brings in doesnt filter down  into the actual people of the local communities.
We see the same thing all around the world including NZ.
Sure there is employment.. for a handful out of the community..min  wage, which often is below living wage.. The profits are  are usually sent off shore to parent companies in a manner to avoid local taxes, and therefore benefit local community projects/ services.
 One just has to look at the growth of holdings and profits of local indigenous trusts set up from the treaty of Waitangi settlements and then look at the employment/ poverty stats of the population those trusts and settlement where meant to benefit.
 No different to places like the Cooks.

 But blaming the locals is like blaming commercial fishing here working within the laws designed to protect those resources interests in NZ for our fisheries... the problem is the law

 Fix that you fix the plight of the bone fish

Asking the locals that are not bonefish guides to stop netting in order to enhance the overall tourism appeal of the island is therefore a very tough call.

 exactly.. asking is not the soln...getting them to also have a share of the income.. a good reason not to net is.
 A law will maybe help but not stop the then poaching.

It always interests me when people talk about Aitutaki (I've never been) that they never talk about the lagoon's water quality and its effect on the fishery.

I hope waste water and sanitation are improving. Working with the resorts and instituting stronger planning requirements was part of the project - so ... let's hope. The future for local cheap protein may lie in an effective local small-scale safe off-shore fishing fleet, and restricted commercial fishing zones. I know GEF and SPC are promoting this in the Pacific and Tonga for one is looking at adopting.

Found a picture of the beach in question in the initial report. Imagine a boat load of netters descending on this place and taking out every fish that swims. There is an accommodation house in the palm trees behind. I'm sure it won't be getting much business with this netting going on!

Aitutaki has been on my radar for quite some time. Recently I have spoken to a great many good anglers returning from there and was surprised how few bone fish they actually landed. The average cost per fish caught seems to be about $NZ 1000, just a wee but too much for my liking, even though it's not all about catching fish. (Yeah right, did I actually say that?)

Yep, Adam, I fully agree that an experienced bonefish fly fisher can still do well at Aitutaki. However, I am told that over half the fly fishers going to Aitutaki are there to catch their first bonefish. We need to tell these people that the prospect of them catching their first bonefish at Aitutaki has been made doubly or triply more difficult because of locals dragging nets in all the best spots.

Yip I agree fully about the netters,