Eels Caught By The Ton On Ellesmere’s Shores

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27961, 7 May 1956, Page 12

Eels Caught By The Ton On Ellesmere’s Shores

A ton to a ton and a half of eels can be caught in a single night from a shallow trench or eel trap on the shores of Lake Ellesmere opposite Taumutu. At night when the tide is high, big black and silver eels up to sft in length and weighing from 121 b to almost 301 b swarm up the trench, about 30ft long and 2ft to 3ft wide, which has been carved out of the shingle spit which separates the lake from the sea. As the eels search for a way out to the sea they are attracted into the man-made channel by sea water seeping into it. Then when it is a churning sea of eels the catchers block the entrance. In the morning they return to scoop out the eels with a wire' netting basket and empty them into sacks.

Eels taken from a creek running out of a lagoon at Taumutu are hooked out with a gaff or stunned with a curved iron standard and hauled out by hand.

The eeling season extends from about March to May. In the early part the eels weigh from 41b to 61b, but now the larger eels are moving. These may weigh more than 301 b. Maoris have been catching eels at Lake Ellesmere ever since they settled on its shores, but tractors and trailers are now part of the equipment. These are used by two of the main eel catchers at Taumutu today —Mr R. T. Ellison, a nephew of the late Mr R. M. Taiaroa. a chief of the Ngaitahu tribe, and Mr M. H. Pohio. Mr Ellison sends eels to Maori friends and relatives throughout the country. At his home at Taumutu on Saturday dozens of freshly-caught and salted eels were hanging out to dry from wooden frames.

He is now collecting about two tons of eels, which will form part of the diet of between 500 and 600 Maoris from all parts of the South Island who will meet for three days in Christchurch next month. In a season Mr Ellison takes about 2000 eels from Lake Ellesmere, but this is only a minute fraction of its eel population. Much effort is involved in preserving such a large quantity of this popular Maori food. For three or four days after trapping the eels are strung up for drying. They are then boned and salted before again being hung in the open air. They are next boiled in coppers for a few minutes, and after a further period of drying they are stored inside on wire racks, where they will keep indefinitely. The dried and»salted eel can be smoked over a sawdust fire. Once they are cured they may be boiled, grilled, roasted, or fried. “In fact, you can do anything with them,” said Mr Ellison, “but you have to acquire a taste for them.” Last year Mr Pohio sold a “ton or two” to a Christchurch wholesaler. Some were sent away in sacks as they came wriggling out of the trench Mr Pohio believes that some of these eels were marketed in Australia and Europe. Mr Ellison said that representations to official' quarters seeking to preserve eeling rights on Lake Forsyth and Lake Ellesmere for the Maori had already been initiated. Some of the Maoris felt that -in the future eel catchers might be licensed and they might then have to buy their eels. Mr Pohio said that as a commercial fisherman he regarded the eel as a menace. They had not only eaten fish out of his flounder nets but they had eaten parts of the nets in their scavenging.

The Maoris say that eels of many types are found in Lake Ellesmere They differ in colour and in the shape of their heads. One is so small that it is not boned during the curing process. It probably only eats flies and mosquitoes, but the big heavyeels are not so discriminating, and during cleaning eel catchers have found evidence of cannibalism. A long thin eel known as the stock whip is discarded as unsuitable for consumption.