MANGAWHAI'S NO.1 NEWSPAPER
|
|
Archives
|
No fishy tales, just true stories at book launch20 Aug, 2021 Former fisheries officer and Mangawhai resident Duncan Chisholm has teamed up with an old colleague, Whangarei resident Don Armitage, to produce an exciting new book, True Tales of New Zealand Fisheries Officers. Successfully launched in Mangawhai in front of a 50-strong crowd on August 15 at the Mangawhai Club, Chisholm says there has been tremendous interest in the book, not only locally but across the seas from the Chatham Islands to Australia. Comprising a collection of around 100 true tales told from the perspective of those charged with enforcing fisheries laws, the stories derive from current and past officers and former Navy and Air Force personnel who had the powers of fisheries officers Chisholm says. “The tales cover the period from 1866 until recent times and traverse the wide range of duties officers were required to perform at various times from the ‘wild west’ era of mussel and toheroa poaching in the 1970s and 80s to the enforcement of our Exclusive Economic Zone.” Around 15 of the stories are based on incidents in Northland, including several involving the poaching of toheroa on a massive scale from Dargaville beaches, and a story of apprehending the first foreign fishing vessel caught inside the then newly-created 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone in 1978, told by Mangawhai local and former Navy commander Kevin Corles. Chisholm says there were plenty of tales to tell and many will be eye-opening to the general public as fisheries offences usually occur away from the public eye at night, in remote places at sea and were usually not widely reported. “The catalyst for many of the tales is the moment when offenders are confronted and what happens next,” he says. “Many offenders didn’t take kindly to being caught and their reaction made the job of a fisheries officer at times exciting, wild, often dangerous and sometimes amusing.” This latest book in the ‘True Tales’ series will appeal to anyone with an interest in the outdoors and would make a perfect Father’s Day gift. Copies can be purchased from Duncan Chisholm at dunkmale@gmail.com or Mangawhai Books and Stationery.
Former local fisheries officer Duncan Chisholm with his book of adventures, told through the eyes of 30 individual fisheries personnel. The compilation took 18 months to compile and is the 22nd book in the True Tales library. PHOTO/SUPPLIED |
|
CONTACT US
|