FISHING IN THE GULF.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 15, 19 January 1931, Page 17

FISHING IN THE GULF.

EFFECT OF THE 555/NES,

The public of Auckland owes a debt of gratiUide to Mrs. Ruby Watson for her strenuous efforts in endeavouring to conserve our fisheries in the Hauraki Gulf, which have already been seriously depleted and perhaps irreparably damaged by the operations of the trawlers and seine net fishermen. For the past forty years I have fished the gulf from end to end, and I know personally the seriousness of the position. Four years ago I made my headquarters at Rodney, and fish on the reefs there were exceedingly plentiful. Later in that year the trawlers approached as close to the reef as possible, and the seine netters also found this a valuable quarter, with the resuit that, although they have now practically abandoned this ground, fish are conspicuous by their absence. The same result is evident throughout the gulf, and the destruction of immature fish and the damage to feeding beds is appalling. It is all very well for Mr. Deightou to assert that trawling and eeine netting arc harmless —to those who know he might just as well assert that such methods are beneficial. Forty years ago many men engaged in line ilehing. and fish were plentiful and cheap, while prices fluctuated in accordance with the quantity available for sale. Under present conditions, fish, which should be one of the cheapest of our food supplies, considering it only requires collecting, is one of the dearest. Fish spawn not only in the watera .of the gulf, but for miles outside the Great Barrier, as everyone who has fished in those waters is aware- The method of distribution is costly. Within a radius of one hundred yards in Queen Street are four, fish shops, the aggregate rental of which :-nusc approximate £100 per week. Mr. Deighton states that fish lose from one-third to two-thirds of weight in the process of preparation for marketing, but this offal provides a valuable manure, and is so prepared by his company, so therefore the loss caii•not be as great as he states. Had I niyway I would prohibit trawling and seine netting within 25 miles of the coast at any part, and from Whangarei Heads to 25 miles outside Colville. I state emphatically as one who knows all the facts that unless something is done shortly we will have no fisheries to protect, and a valuable industry which would provide employment for at least a thousand line fishermen and give the public an ample supply' of cheap and valuable- food will be completely destroyed. a. J. GEE.