FISH IN THE GULF.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 302, 21 December 1926, Page 8

FISH IN THE GULF.

A GROWING SCARCITY. TWO CAUSES BLAMED. TRAWLING AND OIL REFUSE. SPAWNING INTERFERED AVITH. The increasing scarcity of fish in the Hauraki Gulf has perturbed the members o. the Auckland Acclimatisation Society, and a, sub-committee, which was set up to make investigations lias made a report on the subject, which, inter alia. states:— "The serious depletion in recent years of fish, chiefly schnapper and flounder in the Hauraki Gulf, is causing deep concern amongst those who realise that, a food supply of the province is in danger. Before the trawler and the seine net were used, schnapper could be caught in quantities anywhere in the gulf, and within the harbour, lt was a common form of sport, and family economy, lor parties to hire steamers for a day s fishing, when everybody caught fish. Almost always there would be a surplus, which would be sent to one or another of the public institutions. "Now these steamer excursions and clubs are unheard of, because ot tne paucity of sport obtainable. The nsli caught on those excursions were twice and three times the size of those put upon the slabs for sale. This holds good with schnapper and flounder. A Thames or Kaipara llat-iish would be a full meal for a working man, and one would get a bundle of such fisu for a shilling. Now one pays from Od to 9d for a flounder which is no more than a meal for a child. "Fish in Auckland has thus become a luxury rather than a common article of diet, and can only be afforded in satislying quantity by the rich. The reason for this appears on the surface to be disturbance of the fish in their spawning haunts, and subsequent destruction ot young and immature fish by the fishing method adopted in more recent years. Menace of Oil. "Unquestionably, more recently st'll another factor had developed which wi.'l have to be attacked nationally and internationally, as the laws of maritime countries are not at present capable o: cc J ug with it," continues the report. "VVe refer to evacuation of oil refuse t>y oil-burning steamers. So deleterious is this that even sea birds die from contamination with it. When they settle on an oily sea their wings and feathers generally become clogged with the oil, and being unable to fly, they die of starvation. As. the spawn of all sea fisli used for human food, with the one exception of the European herring, float and hatch on the surface, it follows the expulsion of oil refuse in the shallow seas, becomes a terrible menace to the fish food supply of countries like Xew Zealand with locks and shallow waters round the coast. When this was brought before the Minister (the Hon. Mr. Anderson) by us during his recent visit to Auckland, he replied that New Zealand had more drastic regulations regarding the control of oil-burning ships than any other country; but he admitted that more would have to be done through joint action of nations, the point being that the three-mile limit is insufficient. To attain such evidence is beyond our power, and possibly beyond our province, but unpolitical pressure should be put upon the Government, or better, positive assurance given of the support of the community to the a Commission, formed of both practical and scientific men, to decide upon the reliability of the statements that the fish have decreased in number and in weight, and to propose means of relief; further to ascertain especially why this has occurred in the Hauraki Gulf, and to consider the advisability of closing the gulf absolutely to the trawler and the seine net. In our contention, that these matter's should be dealt with after, and upon such practical and scientific investigation, and these only, we are supported by the fact that in 1921 the British Association proposed to equip an oceanographical expedition at a cost of between £350,000 and £500,000 on the basis of the "Challenger" expedition of 1872-70. Areas Closed to Trawling. "The Xew Zealand Government has already given us more than the half loaf that is better than no bread, by declaring certain areas of the gulf closed to the trawler and seine net from November 15, of this year, until January 31, 1927, to enable the spawn to develop in the gulf and the young fish to get a start in life undisturbed by artificial agitation," proceeds the report. "But even in this we are without the scientific data to decide how far this is an absolute safety to the inmates of a seanursery that has been disturbed continually for years. How serious this disturbance may be, we have as yet no means of knowing, as we are not aware of the initial food of the new life after absorption of the pre-natal provision, but it seems more than probable that the agitation of the sea-bottom may destroy, or prematurely release infusoria, animalculac or other food provision necessary 'to the young life. Yet another phase of the question arises—the possibility of artificially hatching the ova under conditions which would produce immensely more fish to fend for themselves than Nature docs, by the elimination of the numerous natural enemies of tho ova and the newly-hatched iish. Here, again, we are at a standstill without science to teach us what organisms form the initial food of the fishling, after its absorption of the yolk sack, and whether we can produce such organisms in marine hatcheries at the precise time that they arc required. It might be that the trans--plantation of young fish from one area to another would be the easier method. The probable absolute importance of protection of the spawning areas and the immature fish can only be arrived at by scientific investigation. A Proposed Sanctuary. The Kew Zealand Government has taken the course proposed by the conference in 1921, namely, the prohibition of fishing on this spawning ground during the spawning season. It is a most wise provision, but not necessarily sufficient, and it is a question whether tho prohibition should not be absolute, and the Gulf a sanctuary for a period of years, concludes the' report. "It behoves us in a comparatively young fishing country that is already showing alarming depletion and lessening in size of fish, to put on the brake in time. We are aware that we can no longer catch fish where they used to be in thousands, and that the fish marketed now are not to be compared in size with those which used to be caught even within the harbour. Common sense asks for a reason, and until we have scientificdata to guide us we must rely on common sense to find a reason and a I remedy.

The Government has taken a step in the right direction in shutting this Gulf against the trawler and the . seine net, but the depletion of our food supply is so vital that we ought further to have expert advice of the scientist upon the whole question of food fishes, from the eggs up to the full-grown condition, with' reiereiice to development, growth, migrations, local varieties, with constant reference to the hydrographical conditions of life, with regard to depth, temperature, salinity, gas contents, plankton and currents."