SEINE NETS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 238, 8 October 1935, Page 10

SEINE NETS.

NEW REGULATION. FISHERMEN LODGE PROTEST. s EFFECT ON SUPPLY. Bearing 136 signatures, the following letter was sent yesterday to the Minister of Marine, the Hon. J. G. Cobbc, and to the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. M. J. Savage, M.P.:— Honourable Sir.—We, the fishermen and fish dealers of the City of Auckland desire respectfully to protest against a recent Order-in-Council by which the mesh of the cod-end of seine nets is to bo increased to five inches from January 1, 1936. In presenting this protest, we submit the following points for your consideration:— (1) It is presumed that the fundamental object of this Ordcr-in-Council is to preserve tho fishing grounds by reducing the chances of catching undersized fish. (2) The public demand for snapper is for a size ranging from 1} to 21b—85 per cent of the sales of snapper are of fish under 21b. A five-inch mesh will allow these fish to escape. A five-incli mesh will allow a fairly large flounder to escape, and will result in an acute shortage of supplies on the local market. It will allow practically all gurnard and creamflsli to escape, and as several thousand dozen are sold weekly the effect on the market will be disastrous. Enemieß of the Flounder. (3) To preserve tho young flounder it is necessary to reduce their natural enemies, and the gurnard is one of the greatest enemies the flounder has. It, therefore, follows that if gurnard are not going to be caught the flounder must suffer accordingly. (4) The result of this Order-in-Council J will mean that the seine net fishermen will lose 00 per cent of their catch and tho dealers will be unable to supply the public with the class and size of fish required.

(5) The fishing industry is not a prosperous one and this regulation will place undue hardship upon those engaged in it.

(0) This Order-in-Council does not apply to steam trawlers, who are per-' rnitted to use a four-inch mesh made of manilla. which does not stretch.

(7) We ask that this Order-in-Council bo repealed and that the present regulations, which arc adequate to meet the position, be more strictly enforced. We respectfully suggest that you meet representatives of the industry and obtain first-hand knowledge of the position, as we feel sure that you will agree with them that this regulation is not only unnecessary, but imposes an unwarranted hardship on an industry already overburdened with many restrictions. Aimed at Seine Netters. "None of the fishermen would mind if tho Oovernment doubled or even trebled the fine for bringing in undersized fish —that is, snapper of less than 12oz weight and flounder under nine inches long—and more stringently inspected the catches for breaches of this regulation," stated one of the authors of the protest. "Very few undersized fish arc caught by tho present 4J-inch mesh, often not more than half a dozen in a week, and most fishermen lmve enough sense to throw them back immediately, knowing that if the young fish are not allowed to grow to maturity the grounds will in time be depleted.

That the new regulation applies only to seine nets and not to those used by

the steam trawlers, of which there are three working out of Auckland, is particularly galling to the fishermen, who claim that the trawlers are much more likely to deplete the grounds than are the boats using seine nets. The point of their drawing attention, in their letter to the Minister, to the fact that the trawlers' nets are made of manilla is that this fibre docs not stretch as does the cotton twine of which the seine nets are faiade, so that in actual use the fourinch mesh of the trawlers' nets is not more than four inches, while the fiveinch inesh of the seine net will stretch to bccome at least » s]in mesh.