ERROR IN CHART.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 190, 13 August 1934, Page 8

ERROR IN CHART.

FISHING REGULATIONS PROTECTION OF DABS. BEARINGS NOT PRACTICABLE. Without raisin? objections to the aim expressed by tlv Marine Department to j protect the dabs in the Firth of Thames! during the breeding season, Auckland fishermen point out that the line within which they will not be allowed to use the Danish seine net from August 15 to* September 14 does not in fact exist, owing to an error of about half a mile in the chart of the Hauraki Gulf. "This is just another of the Marine Department's little jokes," say the fishermen. "It looks all right on the chart, but actually it is all wrong, as wc very well know." The Gazette notice making an addition to regulation 52 under the Fisheries Act is as follows: — "Provided that during the period from August 15 to September 14, 1934, both days inclusive, no person shall use a Danish seine net for taking lish in that part of the Hauraki Gulf south of a straight line drawn from the summit of the hill on Waiheke Island marked 770 ft on Admiralty chart 1800 through the summit of the hill on Rotaro Island marked 245 ft on the said chart to Cow Rock (Tuahuia Islet)." Other Bearings Shown. A straight line drawn from the hill on Waiheke Island through the summit of the hill of Rotaro Island would in practice reach the Coromandel shore of the Firth of Thames well south of Cow Hock, though the chart shows the three points in a straight line. It cannot be definitely said, apparently, which of the three points is wrongly charted, though possibly all three are. The fact remains, however, that a fisherman fixing his position by the hills on Rotaro and Waiheke Islands, in according with the "Gazette" notice, might be well inside the prohibited area, if Cow Rock is to be taken as fixing the eastern end of the line. To put It right, Captain C. B. Daniels, Inspector of Fisheries, has posted in his office for the advice of fishermen the following notice: "Danish seine netting will be prohibited south of a straight line drawn from Cow Island, on the Coromandel shore, to Rotaro (Rotoroa) Island, on the western shore, from August 15 to September 14, both days inclusive. The exact position of this line is defined by getting Cow Island directly in line with Castle Hill, and continuing on to a hill 770 feet high on Waiheke Island, cutting Rotaro in a dip just north of a triangular shaped hill 240 feet high." He has also posted up sketches of the shore, showing the bearings, but as the fishermen point out, those bearings do not coincide with those given in the Gazette notice, the hill on Rotaro Island being well south of the line given by Captain Daniel*, although his. line is at leant straight and definable. "Departmental clerks in Wellington might think it easy to iix bearing.?' on the chart, and draw straight lines from one point to another, but when the chart is inaccurate their lines are not so easy to find in practice," remarked one of tlie fishermen to-day. They have put a line across the Firth of Thames, from Dead man Point to Sandspit Light, inside of which seine netting is prohibited, but the joke of it is that Sandspit Light is hidden by the southern end of Ponui Island. At different points along the Inic, its-position can be fixed by different bearings, but from no part of it can Sandspit Light be seen. Such absurdities bring the Department and its regulations into contempt, and encourage poaching." Although admitting that inaccuracies in the chart had caused difficulty in the fixing of bounds, Captain Daniels said this morning that the fishermen were well aware of the position of the line across the Firth of Thames, without reference to Sandspit light, as other bearings would give it accurately at any part of its length. They took advantage,, however, of the wording of the regulation, which certainly gave impracticable bearings, to plead ignorance when caught poaching over the line. It was unfortunate that, owing to the errors in the chart, the new regulation closing an area of about 40 miles to seine netters during the breeding season of dabs, also gave bearings which were not correct in fact, but the marks which he had fixed upon for the guidance of the fishermen wore easily picked up in any weather and could not be disputed,