Story: Freshwater fish

The last grayling

The last grayling

This is the last known record of fishing for the now-extinct grayling, on the Waiapu River on the East Coast in March 1923. The men are using a hīnaki (trap), which is weighed down with a rock. A net leads from stakes to the hīnaki, and rocks and mānuka brush form the walls that guide the grayling into the trap. On this occasion they took 30–40 fish. Māori knew grayling by many names, the most common being upokororo.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Ramsden Papers
Reference: 1/2-037936; F
Photograph by James Ingram McDonald

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page:

Bob McDowall, 'Freshwater fish - Shy species, seldom seen', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/11099/the-last-grayling (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Bob McDowall, published 24 Sep 2007