Upstream migration is so old-fashioned, the best way for the modern trout to travel in style is by truck.

A truckload of between 300 and 400 live rainbow trout travelled from Turangi to Hawke’s Bay as part of a special effort to restock the region’s rivers after Cyclone Gabrielle.

Hawke’s Bay Fish & Game are still figuring out exactly what the lingering effects of the cyclone on the local trout population might be, but observations have indicated that numbers have dwindled.

Chris Newton, Hawke’s Bay Fish & Game Council inter-term manager, said he accepted an offer from the Department of Conservation (DoC) to take trout from their Taupō fishery “without hesitation”.

The fish were transported to Hawke’s Bay on Thursday.

“We had a special truck that comes from Fish & Game in Rotorua, that carries their trout,” Newton said.

“There are three or four hundred and they are quite a good size these trout. We can hold them here for probably a couple of months over the colder winter months.”

He said the trout were kept in concrete ponds with good running water and plenty of oxygen until they decide where the fish may need to be released in Hawke’s Bay.

“We can’t ascertain exactly what has happened at the moment because we can’t see in the rivers, they are all still dirty,” he said.

Lloyd Gledhill, Fish & Game officer Eastern Fish & Game Rotorua, drove the truck to take trout from Turangi to Hawke's Bay. Photo / Warren Buckland

“My biggest fear is the silt in these rivers will have flooded the invertebrate life which is what trout feed on, so we are going to have to be very careful about that.”

He said there will have to be discussions with a few parties, such as local angling clubs, before deciding where to release the trout, but he expected the decision to be made pretty quickly.

Transporting mature trout between regions like this was rare and Newton said hadn’t happened before on this scale in Hawke’s Bay.

“Often Hawke’s Bay will bring very small juvenile trout from the hatchery up in Rotorua down and we will hold them in our ponds before releasing them into our lakes here, but this is a real first.”

Dave Conley, DoC’s Taupō Fishery operations manager, said the Taupō Fishery team had a strong and collaborative relationship with neighbouring Fish & Game regions and they were more than happy to make some fish available to support re-stocking efforts.

“It is rare for the Taupō Fishery to provide trout to a neighbouring Fish & Game region to bolster stocks in rivers, as most fisheries are naturally self-sustaining,” Conley said.

“The Taupō Fishery regularly supports small children’s fishing initiatives in the Taranaki and Wellington regions, when we receive requests, and our stocks allow.”

He said DoC had confidence that the trout were kept safe and healthy while transported.

“Fish welfare is of the utmost importance, and we take confidence knowing Fish & Game staff are highly experienced and well trained.”