Acclimatisation.

Bruce Herald, Volume X, Issue 958, 16 November 1877, Page 3

Acclimatisation.

'•■. .!■■'.- ■.'•■ :•/ '— - — t; — ♦■ - t o"" — " '- ; '■ .'■ '•'■■■ ''■'-"■ Upwards of 1000 live trout were recently sent from Christchurch to Wangatiui without the loss of a single fish, atid were- supplied from the fishbreeding establishment of Mr Johneon, at ;opawa f ■ : ' ■ ' ■ / /"._' ._ "'.. _■ . The ChristchurGh Acclimatisation Society complain that they have only received 50,000 salmon ova, being ihe numbor paid for by the Society, and that lOU,OiJO prbtniced by the General Government have not come to hand. Over 1000 pva hftye already hatched out. The Baluion oya <; which Mr Pirth ; has placed in rivers in the Maori King's country are in good- condition, aud are ..now. ha'ching pufc, i The Calif'ornian salmon ova put in the Rapurapu (Upper Thauie's) have aoswere/d splendidly, and numbers of fish as much &ii five inches long have been seen above, and below iihe' spot where they were placed. ""' ciLirORNIAN" SALMON". Dr Hector reports regarding the Californian salmon {salrho quinnat, Richardson), recently introduced into New Zealand £-- 'The moat important difference from the Ailantic Salmon is its enduranpe of much big Her temperatures at the period of spawning, aa the egiis are matured in the eumraer and batched in the autumn of a mild i climate, ins'.ead of being developed during a rigorous winter, and hatched out in spring. The Californian salmon spends the greater part of its life in the' sen, and especially frequents dsep-water inlets. : There are three " rims V qf this salmon upthe rivers in each year— the first is in Bpring,d|jring March apd April, when tHe prime fish of largest sige aiid best quality, after frequenting the es'uaries in large numbers during the winter months, start up the rivers, the full— grgwn fish working up to the "source of the streams, thpy fipawp io July and August. So far as yefc pbaervec}, the $dult ; fish all die after spawning, and never return |o ; tjje ".jje'a-. Ju August there is a second run of fish up the ri?er.s, but at this Beason they are of inferior quality. The third run is of smaller-sized fish, in the month pf Optp^er, just before the winter b#s in. ?herp arp np s^aJDiqp in the rivers duriog the winter ipont h» ' : fr6m November to March, at wnich season they , are caught in .the sea. f M v■ jV - ; .-.■ \ |t ha 8 not be^n ascertained where the ■ young i i|sn sppnid the i yinter mpnthi. It I is an iin portent fact that in ascending to i |bsi breeding?place tbe gravid fisbn^usb

fnqueutiy pas- through river water having a temperate of over ?6 deg. The average size of the full-grown sa'mon in the Sacramento .River and \U tributaries is about. 2O.b«i weight, but fish weighing from 40. ba to 501 bs are not uncommon. It is a large handsome fish, wilh Bt.l very scales, and a deeper body and less delicate look than the salmon of Europe, bub in quality as food they are quite equal to it. "When in prime order their flesh is firm, sweet, rich, juicy and high coloured. As a game fish they are active and powerful, and are freely caught with hook and line in salt and brackish water. In fresh water the. best bait is Naimon roe, but they also give good sport with the artificial fly. The climate of the upper tributaries of the Sacramento ftiver, where the best salmon fishing "id California is found, closely approaches to that of the New Zealand mountain valleys. The winters are mild, a very little snow falling occasionally with the rains. The days in summer and autumn are ho*y but the nighta are cool, there being a great range of temperature in the twenty-four hours'. Thus,' in September (corresponding to March in New Zealand) the thermometer has been known to rise from 55deg at sunrise to lOOdeg. at noon. The foregoing observations indicate sahno quinnat 10 be well adapted for thriving in the seas and rivers of New Zealand, and the success which has attended.* the recent shipment of ova shows that a few large importations would, in the course of a few years, thoroughly stock our waters, and introduce a lasting and remunerative industry, as it is from this speciea that the chief supply of preserved salmon is now manufactured. The consumption of this article in New Zealand the Australian Colonies in one je>r, as shown by the import returns for 1875, was very large, the New Zealand share having a value of £LOjOOO. The business of canning on the Pacific Coast has now reached enormous dimensions. In 1875, 16,000,000!bs of canned fish was prepared for exportation, and last year seventeen caonaries were at work, though not fully employed, owing, however, to a deficient supply of fish, and not to any falling off iv the demand.