Trustees
Trustees
The Trust Deed provides for the nomination of three to seven Trustees who are required to administer the fund to best achieve the objectives of the Trust Deed. Currently the Trustees are:
2026
Trustees
Trustee
Ian Cole - Chairperson
Resident of Wanaka since 1989 where I live with my partner Jill.
Ian has been an avid fisherman and game bird hunter for more than 50 years. While living in Wanaka he has been involved in frontline tourism, initially as a partner/manager in Relishes Café and latterly as a fly-fishing guide.
Ian served as an elected member of Otago Fish and Game from 1998 - 2025. Ian is a nominated trustee to the Clutha Fisheries Trust and has served as the Trust’s chairperson since 2009.
"I have witnessed the establishment of Lake Dunstan since inception and am firmly committed to upholding the trusts interests in maintaining and improving both the sports fisheries and conservation values of the Upper Clutha catchment".
Trustee
Rick Boyd
A retired fisheries biologist with a career spanning nearly 50 years in Canada and New Zealand. Rick has been a Councillor on the Otago Fish and Game Council since 2015. Now living in Wanaka he worked on salmon and herring fisheries in Canada before joining the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (now MPI) in Auckland where he developed and implemented fisheries policies as manager of a team in the Auckland Region.
After leaving MAF at the end of the 1980s he worked as a fisheries and environmental consultant providing advice on a wide range of projects to Government agencies, NGOs, industry and Maori throughout New Zealand before retiring in 2018.
Trustee
Gerry Closs
Professor Gerry Closs is Head of Department, Department of Zoology at the University of Otago. His expertise is in freshwater ecology, with a specialist interest in the ecology of freshwater fish. Gerry has over 140 peer-reviewed publications examining ecology and management of freshwater systems, fish and invertebrates, plus numerous media commentaries and popular science articles. Gerry has supervised about 100 postgraduate students.
Gerry was appointed to the position of Lecturer in the Department of Zoology at the University of Otago in 1997. Apart from his current position as Head of Zoology, Gerry has previously held the position of Director of the Ecology Degree Programme 2006-2010, and then Chair of the Ecology Degree Board of Studies 2012-2014. He also represented the Division of Science on the University of Otago, Animal Ethics Committee for 10 years from 2001-2011.
As a Trustee of the Clutha Fisheries Trust, and takes tremendous pride and satisfaction in the work the trust has undertaken over the years to improve public access to rivers in the upper Clutha catchment.
Trustee
Niall Watson
Niall Watson is the retired former chief executive of Otago Fish and Game Council and currently splits his time between Cromwell and Dunedin. He has over 40 years experience in freshwater fisheries management, mostly in Otago, and has been directly involved in water resource issues in the Trust’ core area (the Clutha catchment upstream from Lake Roxburgh).
Niall's tertiary training is in science and resource planning. His association with waterways in the Cromwell area as a recreational user and angler started in earnest, more than 20 years ago, with the acquisition of a holiday home in Bannockburn.
Trustee
Mike Barker
Mike is a retired marine scientist having spent most of his working life in the departments of Zoology and Marine Science at the Otago University. He was Head of the Marine Science Department from 2000-2006.
Mike has a strong interest in the biology and ecology of marine and freshwater fish and invertebrates, and in the conservation of New Zealand's natural resources. He is a keen angler and an Otago Fish and Game Councillor (2018-present) and the Otago delegate to the New Zealand Fish and Game Council.
Trustee
Nicole Sutton
Originally from dairy farming country in the Waikato, Nicole now lives in sheep and beef country at Fruitlands, near to Alexandra. After completing her Master of Science degree majoring in Biology in the early 2000’s, she worked for the Department of Conservation (DOC) from 2005 to 2024. Nicole has a background in threatened species management, managing operations teams, communications, and working with community groups undertaking activities on Public Conservation Land. "I’ve been privileged to see a lot of New Zealand’s back country through my roles with DOC and recreationally".
Currently Nicole works with Otago Catchment Community Inc, with farmer-led and urban catchment groups undertaking initiatives towards improving water quality.
Nicole looks forward to supporting the Trust’s values of advocating for the protection, restoration, and/or enhancement of freshwater fish and wildlife habitats as they align well with her own.
