Salmon angling enthusiast Jack Chandra has been elected president of the newly formed Waitaki Riparian Enhancement Society.
The decision to form the society followed the establishment of a steering committee to look at riparian enhancement of the Waitaki River.
That followed a public meeting at Glenavy in January, where various proposals to boost salmon numbers in the Waitaki River, including a hatchery, were discussed The objective of the society, which is now in the process of becoming incorporated, was to promote riparian and environmental enhancement of the river, Mr Chandra said.
One of the tasks would be to look at what could be done to improve the dwindling number of salmon.
Mr Chandra, who is a life-member of the Otago branch of the New Zealand Salmon Anglers Association, said there was a lot of interest in the project.
Funding was now required to get it off the ground.
He was excited about the prospect of "better days ahead" for anglers.
While it was a big task, if successful, then future generations would reap the benefits, he said.
All aspects of enhancement would have to be looked at, including cleaning up the waterways.
