Acclimatisation soc. farm controls urged

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 32958, 3 July 1972, Page 14

Acclimatisation soc. farm controls urged

/Neto Zealand Press Association) WELLINGTON, July 2. The Fishing Industry Board will make a strong recommendation to the Government that proposed freshwater fish-farming regulations should apply equally to all organisations, including acclimatisation societies.

The chairman (Mr I. T. Cook) said today the board believed that the term fish farm applied to any keeping of fish in ponds or raceways where they were fed manually —irrespective of what name they were given at present.

“My board believes that the record of fish diseases which acclimatisation societies’ farms have experienced makes it imperative that any regulations covering control of water intake and outflow, inspection, notification of disease outbreaks, compulsory purification of the ponds and raceways, destruction of affected fish stocks, together with the appropriate penalties for non-compliance, should apply to all people and organisations, whether commercial, sporting, tourist or Government,” Mr Cook said.

“A great deal has been said by opponents of fish farming about the prospects of disease in fish farms, but commercial fish farmers will

[work on a scale which will 'enable them to provide the I best conditions for disease control. | “Their properly qualified staff will ensure that disease

is kept under strict control with proper supervision and good fish husbandry on a parallel with the best agricultural farming practices," said Mr Cook.