However I soon gave up when I realised the balance of forum members was so comprehensively stacked in favour of environmental exploiters that it felt like an over-whelming dominance of — those with vested economic interests. –Mike Joy on the “Land and Water Forum”
By Tony Orman
Trout need fresh water
Trout need rivers with fresh, flowing water; so the two are closely dependent in the sense that rivers can depend on trout to be the focus to stimulate public opposition to being depleted in flow and/or contaminated by chemicals and other contaminants. Trout in a sense, are “the canary in the coal-mine.”
A leading ecologist and a controversial one at that, Mike Joy, has written The Fight for Freshwater which is a memoir that delves deeply into the decline of New Zealand’s freshwater and in particular lowland rivers.
John Key Grilled
In May 2011, New Zealand Prime Minister John Key was interviewed by Stephen Sackur on the BBC’s Hard Talk television show. Stephen Sackur told Key that New Zealand’s slogan “clean and green” was no longer true and quoted Dr. Mike Joy of Massey University as saying New Zealand was delusional about the environmental threats, especially to freshwater. Sackur cited Mike Joy’s research, which had found half of the lakes and 90 per cent of lowland rivers in New Zealand were polluted.
A clearly uncomfortable John Key defensively responded that he did not share Mike Joy’s view. Stephen Sackur was a firm forthright interviewer and challenged PM John Key that New Zealand was clearly not “100 per cent pure” as it has problems with water pollution and the decline of native species.
He again cited Mike Joy, who had said New Zealand has become complacent about its environmental crisis around freshwater.
Polluted waterways and “loaded dice”
In the first chapter in his newly published book, Mike Joy recalls that the interview on BBC Hardtalk “dragged him into the national spotlight.” In his book. Mike Joy refers to the Oroua River in the Manawatu as being badly polluted by sewage from the town of Feilding.
It must have been happening decades earlier to Mike Joy’s days as I recall in my Manawatu boyhood in the 1950s, the river being so badly polluted that we never fished it below the bridge at Feilding.
In his book, Mike Joy has dared to poke his head above the parapet. He is controversial because while many agree with him, others echoing ex-PM John Key, do not.
On becoming a scientist and getting involved in research on native fish, Mike Joy soon saw through the politics surrounding freshwater management and how the dice could be loaded by devious politicians and bureaucrats and even by compliant sycophantic or timid scientists.
For example he was invited to join the Land and Water Forum (LAWF) but saw through the orchestrated setup.
“However I soon gave up when I realised the balance of forum members was so comprehensively stacked in favour of environmental exploiters that it felt like an over-whelming dominance of those who with vested economic interests.”
The failings of LAWF and the Conservation Department
“The failure of the LAWF process is obvious as freshwater ecosystems and biodiversity continue their decline and the drivers of harm have a free run.”
Mike Joy doesn’t pull his punches. Compliant scientists get a rap as do departments bureaucrats and the Department of Conservation for its inertia.
“What I saw as the capture of public servants and scientists dependent on industry and government funding is what made me angry,” he writes.
He was incensed at the Department of Conservation’s decision around 2008, to start giving consents for commercial eel fishers to harvest long fin eels within national parks and reserves. Initially when told, he refused to believe it. After all Mike Joy had worked with DOC for years on saving native fish. He tried to reason with DOC staff. But the muzzling had been implemented. “The DOC scientists were also appalled but could not say so.”
Victims in issues like this are often scientists. Science is too often corrupted. The long fin eel debacle left him with a sour taste.
But Mike Joy is undeterred, in fact resilient and determined. The last line of his writing says “I will be continuing the fight for freshwater.”
The Fight Continues
The book, after an account of his early pre-university days, develops into a riveting account of his mission to save the public’s freshwater rivers, streams and lakes.
It’s an inspirational read that every trout and salmon fisherman should find inspiring. For many — too many in today’s society — it will hopefully cause a shedding of the twin shackles of apathy and lethargy, encouraging anglers to join him in the fight. The book deserves to open many eyes as to this quiet but urgent crisis.
The NZ Federation of Freshwater Anglers gets a mention. Immediate past federation president Dr Peter Trolove who has carried out untiring research work on nitrate levels in water ways — nitrate levels that are far too high for the health of fish, both native and trout and salmon — and even that of humans — fittingly gets a nod.
Mike Joy is the kind of scientist we need. His exposure of the corruption in his field of work, is typical of the entire western world right now… All science is being done exactly as he portrays and I have followed his work when and as I could as he is rarely mentioned in the msm or even in the indy press, so thanks Waikanaewatch… and now for my own little 2 bits.. We have a stream originating from a spring high up on the hills behind us. It runs down 2 natural courses, one of which goes near my house so I can see it whenever. We also have a small pond which is an offshoot of natural drainage from the paddocks behind us, again runoff from the hills above. When we moved here in 2005, we had eels in that pond and in the stream near the house. We watched cormorants land next to our pond, then dive in and surface with an eel wriggling live as it went down the neck of the bird. They would then dive in and get another one and this happened regularly. These eels were about a foot long and a couple of centimetres around. One day a helicopter sprayed the hills up behind us. Everything went brown. I think they sprayed for blackberry. We had no notification and I had horses here who drank from the pond… I was shocked. And guess what happened to the eels. I have not seen one since that day. Whatever they spray for blackberry (and by the way, the blackberry is still all over the damn hills up there and has never gone away) has killed off the eels, forever it seems. And DOC want to know why these things are dissappearing. They know why and like Mike Joy knows, they are not allowed to say…. this censorship of truth must be exposed, and stopped. If we don’t all the same perversion of so called science will continue to destroy and kill… and all the while the little mad scientists and shills in places of power will continue to lie and destroy and laugh at us in some little corner of their offices… in the Universities, in the halls of the NGOs and of course, the beehive… things are corrupt and we need to stop it somehow… but how…is the question of our time…Thank you Mike, I will be buying your book for one…you are brave in the face of the fake world of lies being pushed in the halls of power ….
Mike Joy is right about water quality. He’s wrong about eel harvesting though. He needs to pick his battles more carefully.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t matter which political party you vote for, they are all the same at the end of the day.
Dr Mike Joy has experienced first-hand to total dominance of Big Dairy in political influence. That influence reaches into all levels of research, from regional authorities like Environment Canterbury to Crown research centres like the Cawthron Institute and NIWA. They’re all politically compromised and bullied by the agricultural industry lobbyists, who run our government today and have an inordinate, undemocratic influence throughout society. These powers have tried to marginalize Dr Joy’s voice and even strip him of tenured university positions. The current government wants to make it easier for the Dairy Industry to continue polluting our water and air. And they have the gall to promote a fast-track development bill and RMA and freshwater “reform” legislation that prioritizes private profit over public health. This is a 19th century robber baron business model and unfit for corporate or political governance in 2024.