FISHING IN THE GULF.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 90, 17 April 1929, Page 20

FISHING IN THE GULF.

NEW REGULATIONS. A FISHERMAN'S PROTEST. TRAWLS AND SEINE NETS. We have received the following letter over the nom-de-plume of '"Seine Net": — *'I wish to enter my protest against the new line which has been gazetted for the seine net fishing boats. Your report of the deputation of four M.P.'s and the Postmaster-General, who waited upon the Minister of Marine on March 27 concerning the alleged destruction of fish, is very misleading, as the trawlers and seine net boats are confuted, when there is in reality a vast difference between them. Mrs. Watson, we are told, cited in a recent letter the testimony of the Danish experts who visited New Zealand a few months ago. but the "power nets' that they referred to were the steam trawlers which here in New Zealand are large seagoing vessels, capable of working in almost any weather. In Denmark, Holland, Norway, Belgium, France, Germany, and also England, Ireland and Scotland, trawlers are not allowed inside the three-mile limit, but the seine net id classed with lines, and can operate in any water. By the enforcement of these new limits the fishing industry is prac ticallv being killed where the fishing boats are concerned. It is very difficult for them now to make a living, as the feeding grounds in the shallower waters have been so continuously raked over by the heavy trawl. The steam trawlers can be seen almost every day and night working backwards and forwards over every bit of fishable ground.

"It is not fair or just that such ail important matter as the moving out of the line should he brought up tor consideration by the Marine Department without the practical evidence of fishermen who are more conversant with actual conditions than the 'fisherman with long experience' who stated that 50 tons of small fish had been destroyed within a week. From your report of the deputation, not one single member was able to give any personal evidence that he knew anything about fishing. As apparently they have confused the trawlers with the seine net boats, a short description of the different methods of working may not be amiss. Mr. Jenkins said: There were only 12 trawlers operating, and he did not see why the fish should be sacrificed for the sake of those engaged in the industry.' The trawler, as I have said, is a large seagoing vessel (some of which have already come out from England under their own steam), capable of working in almost any weather and in any depth of water. A trawl net is hauled in (the seine boat being stationary during this process, whilst the trawler is not*, and the mesh of the trawler is smaller. This vessel drag* behind it a particular kind of net. at from three to five miles nil hour, suitable only for this puipo-e. A trawler may make 11 pulls, as stated by Mr. Fletcher, in 24 hours, and any small fish that find their way into a trawl net bag cannot get out. and may be in it for liotirs, crushed up amongst the big fish, vith no chance of being alive when the net is "hauled in. Mr. Fletcher says he saw 130 email fish discarded after one liaul. I presume he means dead fish, for live discarded are put back again into

the water and do not count. One hundred and thirty dead fish for one haul would mean 10,000 per week at the rate of 11 hauls per day. This would be ridiculous as referring to *eine nets. as -0 hauls per week would be nearer the mark, and as to having 10.000 dead ti>li per wepk. the thing is impossible. I have seen haul after haul, day after day. coming in by the seine net without a single dead fish. The regulation mesh in the cod end of a -eine net allows all small fish to escape and, as the rate of hauling in is -o slow small fish have plenty of time to find their way out. The •.")() tons of sum 11 fish destroyed in a week.' referred to by the aforementioned 'fisherman with long experience.' would be impossible in seine boat, but in a trawler it would be quite possible and likely to happen owing to the nets and methods employed. I would like to clearly emphasise the difference between the seine net boat which anchors, casts its net and then slowly hauls it in. and the trawler which—at the rate of from 3 to •> miles per hour —drags after it a, larger, heavier, smaller meshed net. with a heavy iron shoe at the mouth of the bag. and hauls in whilst steaming ahead.

"There are over I~>o seine boats registered in Auckland, whilst the whole fishing fleet comprises -241 boats requiring S2O men. These produced £l.">!U<t»2 worth of fish last year calculated at wholesale prices, exclusive of crav and shell fish. When the kindred industries necessary to keep this fleet going are considered it means the distribution of a lot of money. The fishing industry of Auckland is double that of any othftf" port in New Zealand, and is a good asset to the city: good enough to have more interest taken in it than has been done in the past. The trawlers have so scraped and worked all the shallower waters that the fish are scattered so that two baskets per pull is about the average.

'"If the interests of the fishing industry are to be considered then New Zealand will have to fall in line with what other countries have done, and send the trawlers out to the three mile line. In countries where the trawlers have always been outside the three mile limit the supply of fish for the smaller boats has not diminished even on grounds that have been fished over a hundred years or more. As things are now. the smaller boats are being starved off the sea, and these new restrictions will make it more difficult still."