One of New Zealand's top fly fishing guides is backing a Hawke's Bay Regional Council decision to take action over pollution of the best brown trout fishing river in the North Island.
The regional council has agreed to take urgent action and plans to meet next week with major stakeholders and farmers in the Taharua River's catchment area.
Paddy Clark says nutrient runoff from farms into the river, south-east of Taupo, has significantly reduced the number of large fish in the waterway.
He says the rate of pollution has been rapid and there's now algal growth in the river.
Fish and Game's Hawke's Bay regional manager, Ian Maxwell, says nutrient runoff from local farms is damaging the population of insects which brown trout feed on, reducing the number and size of trout.
