THE PASSING OF THE TOHEROA

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 104, 3 May 1923, Page 11

THE PASSING OF THE TOHEROA

(To the Kclitor.l •Sir, —T hope many have road with much interest the article by your special commissioner in your issue of April 27. From the information I have been able to obtain I cannot discover that there is any bivalve the ivorld throughout similar to this most palatable and nutritious of shell fish. When the late George Augustus Sala, the famous journalist and hobnobber with emperors, kings, popes and cabinet ministers, visited New Zealand, he, as one of the greatest gourmets in Kurope, having eaten New Zealand rock oysters declared them to he the most delicious "bonne bouehe" in the world. The writer is of the belief that had he tasted toheroa soup, as it can lie made, he would have assigned that fish to a higher place in the gastronomical world than even New Zealand's rook oyster. Your commissioner deserves the thanks and commendation of all good citizens for his effort to prevent the extinction of this valuable asset with which nature has endowed us. Its destruction partakes of the double crime of selfishness and wastefulness. It is also a gross wrong upon generations to follow, rich and poor, and natural history students, -who with justice will execrate those responsible for a callous breach of trust. Public attention having been directed to the peril, it remains for Parliament, under the direction of Mr. Ayson, our fisheries expert, to take the necessary steps to protect and perpetuate this valuable food supplv.— J. am. etc.. , " 'CONSERVATION.