DIDYMO DAVE V DOC FISHERY RANGER……..Fishing on the Tongariro River this morning I was approached by a DOC Fishery Ranger who politely asked to see my licence. I complied n answered his questions. But when it came to answering the survey questions, which I was not legally required to answer I refused. He asked my reasons n we established he, like most rangers was not carrying CHECK CLEAN DRY info on him whereas I had some in my bag. Secondly he did not, like most rangers have a rubbish bag with him where I was. So in the end we talked it through n I did answer his questions but made it very clear that in the future I would refuse to answer any question I was not legally obliged to if the Ranger was not carrying CHECK CLEAN DRY material and a rubbish bag! Simply, enough is enough!!!

Good on you Dave. So many anglers have reported similar issues recently. The last time I met a DOC fishery ranger (visiting his father who was staying at TRM), I foolishly suggested I would love to ask him some questions about the fishery, but he abruptly claimed as he was off duty he would not discuss anything to do with DOC. What a prick! Guilt complex? In retrospect, I should have got SWMBO to evict him.

I wondered afterwards, perhaps he was just showing off to Dad? Nevertheless, for a public servant, such arrogance was quite breathtaking. Completely inexcusable… but I believe he was an exception. No wonder TRM receive so many complaints from anglers about DOC. A glance at facebook confirms their unfortunate reputation. Complaints received by TRM are usually deleted, as over the years we have met some excellent dedicated people in DOC (Hi Brenda) Fishery Management, but more recently there appears to be a strange culture of arrogance emanating from the top…

Recently, purely by accident, I came across a letter from DOC Fishery Management claiming I was not receptive to discussions they had held with me. This was a complete fabrication by them. To protect the source, I would never reveal the details publicly, but invite DOC management to follow it up if they question it. Their claims were totally misleading as I had never discussed the particular matter with them or the writer. It is very sad when Government Departments have to lie like that to retain any remaining credibility…