WHERE OUR PISH COME FROM.

Press, Volume XLVII, Issue 7747, 30 December 1890, Page 5

WHERE OUR PISH COME FROM.

! fFBOM OUB SPBCIAIi BEPOBTJSB.] At fchia season of the year when the Ghristcharch man's appetite turns away from meat and his pocket objects to fruic bountiful nature makes nan plentiful. The flesh of flah contains, besides albumen, gelatine, mucus and oil, phosphates, chlorides oud iodides of lime, magnesia, soda, &c, which give it peculiar dietetic and medicinal properties. Medicine and nourishment in tJie shape of a broiled 101b trout has many attractions, and although owing: to the flooded state of the snow rivers and the stormy state of the lakes trout are very scarce, yet the sea otfers us some good substitutes. It has often been tsttid tuat Chriscvnurch is poorly supplied with tun, aud compared with the uouui dauca of Auckland and the Biutf it may appear so, Hut certainly no pains are spared to obtaiu a supply; anu it will astoiiiah tuttuy people to kuow how far aneld Mr Warnes, who is the chief fish merchant here, has to go for his scaly treasures. They are brought from DuueUin, 234 miles south, ana from Wellington, 200 miles north, thus making the hshiug ground more than 4UO miles in length. The list of fish brought into Onriatchurcn is nob very long, the commouestkiuds being flounders, uiuliet.moki, kaha wai. butterneb, warehbu, mackerel, garrish, barracouta. cod, ling, trumpeter, and conger «ela. Air Warnes has two cutters aud a whale boat engaged fishing for the Christchurch market, lne cutters, fitted with wells tor the conveyance of tish, cruise between the Ninety Mile jtieuch and Kaikoura, .their principal grounds, however, being ahout the Amuri ■blurt ana the Ti-uinpeter Bank, off Kaikoura. These boats bring in nearly all the varieties of fish mentioned, and, besides these, large numbers of crayfish. The whaleooAt cruises about Lyctelton Harbor, ! Governor's Bay, ana Fort Levy. Tne three boats move about according to the direction of the wind, lor fish are particularly susceptible to changes of the weather, and have a roving life on account ;of our variable climate. ■ . I Lake fttlestnere has so long been famous for its flounders that it is disappointing to learn that how ie only yields a supply of poor undersized nan, and that it would be better if it were closed to flounder fishing foe some time. The fatteso and oest flounders are caught in the surf at Kaiapoi, the mouth of the Ashley, New jbrignton, andSuoiner. Great quantities of uioki and blue cod are caught on the coast south of Ohristchurch, men fishing them from bank to bank as far as Moeraki. OU the beach at Kalcuna and at Peraki on iJauKs' Peninsula large hauls of fish are made, but both places are bad fur boats and the wind rarely suits. Dunedin tfende tfs Pur principal supply of dried barrkcouta and haddock, the hitter nsn being simply the common rock cod. In winter time we get garfish and flounders from Akaroa, but hut weather stops this supply.. (strictly speaking, Canterbury has. nothing but deep sea nsiiing. The mud flats at Sumner, Lytteltou, Akaroa are not so extensive as those done small arm of the Manukau harbor, and the low bays she has in Banks' Peninsula are .of very: little importance as ashing grounds. She has to draw her main supply from the submarine banks off the coast, and this will always be uncertain, for the banks can only be fished in fine weather. Mr Warues has tried to supply Christchurch wish trout,. bus so far has not been very successful. He paid a large Bum to the AcclluiatUation Society for the . sole right of selling this fish, and has. spent about £150 in license, nets, boats, gear; and labor, lie has tried Lake Coleridge at the head waters of the BakaLa —a lake supposed to be swarming with enormous trout, but has not drawn from ie a single victim. He drew two fish from Lake Pearson, and one of them weighed 251b; and. he has taken about forty from Lake, Fprsytu. The public may sympathise with MrWarnes, because they have not the oppor unity of buying our most delicious fresh water fish; but there are Anglers who will actually rejoice at the safety of the trout, and at the same time use all their power to catch them ia a slower lashio.i. Now that Christchuroh people know where the fish comes from, they may be able to choose their time of buying by the wind, remembering chat the fish he huggeth a weather shore, and liketh not the rolling of the waves.