Quick Dips

Fish, Ducks and Wetlands

Studies of two rare New Zealand native fish and of the rather more abundant mallard duck, along with a film about wetlands will get a monetary boost thanks to a scholarship funded by Invercargill-based fertiliser company Southfert Co-operative.

Sue Moore, Dave Randle and Sara Trafford, all students from the Department of Zoology's Postgraduate Diploma in Wildlife Management course at the University of Otago, have been awarded $1,300 each from the scholarship.

Moore will use money to continue her study on the spawning of two rare native fishes threatened by introduced trout. She says that these two species of galaxiids, which are found only in the Otago and Southland regions, not only have to compete for food with trout, but they are also eaten by large trout.

"If we knew more about their spawning we could produce hatchery-reared galaxiids. These fish could then be released into streams cleared of introduced predators."

Trafford is involved in a long-term study looking at the factors affecting mallard duck breeding and survival rates during the duck shooting season.

Working with the Otago Fish and Game Council, he will be trialling radiotelemetry equipment to try to find out what sort of habitats nesting ducks use, their nesting success and duckling survival. This information is needed by fish and game councils to manage the mallard harvest.

Randle will use the scholarship to help finance a video he is making about the wonder and value of New Zealand wetlands. He is targeting the video at school age children, but hopes a much broader audience will get to see it. His background in making natural history television programmes for children has enabled him to access considerable equipment and wetland footage.

He is determined to make a video that will take the viewer into the unique world of a wetland habitat, a habitat that he says is one of this country's most neglected and misunderstood.