I was at the RAFTS annual conference yesterday which was fascinating. Some very interesting speakers and presentations especially in respect to stocking. The main event of the day was the address by Andrew Thin, chair of the Wild Fishery Review panel. I thought Mr Thin spoke with great clarity. He was not, obviously, in a position to give any answers but one thing he made clear was that he could not let the parameters of the review expand due to time constraints. As a result of this some interesting points were made in relation to whether rainbow trout fisheries should be included, the effects of fish farming, international concerns etc. Mr Thin plans, amongst other things, to attend 18 meetings across the land to engage with wild fisheries interests. It is imperative that these are well attended and that all views are both presented and listened too in a constructive fashion. Our major concern would be the time that has been allocated to the project. Mr Thin’s role is part time, the time constraints that he is under are severe and the breadth and complexity of the task ahead of him enormous.