THE SALMON-BREEDING OPERATIONS AT STORMONTFIELD. (FROM THE "FIELD," DECEMBER 22.)

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIII, Issue 3019, 30 March 1867, Page 6

THE SALMON-BREEDING OPERATIONS AT STORMONTFIELD. (FROM THE "FIELD," DECEMBER 22.)

Sik, — Our Stormontfield operations *re now *n old Btory in your paper, but as you and your readers seem to take an interest in them, I think it proper to write you a short account of what has been done this season. Idoso in the hope that some of your correspondents, who I observe have similar operations going on, will compare notes of what they ' have done with the Stormontfield operations, and. thereby throw light on the artificial breeding of the salmon. Much interest haa been excited in many rivers of the United Kingdom, and a good deal haa beeu done by our Legislature towards the improvement of our salmon fisheries. It is to be hoped that a stimulus will thus be given to the re-introduction of this fish in rivers that have been allowed to get barren, and in rivers where it still exists, but has greatly fallen off from -what its numbers were in former days. Erery measure introduced into Parliament, and treated of in your and other publications, has tended I bowzrds this end. The laws lately enacted appear to be well framed for this purpose. The lengthen- | ing of the annual and weekly close times has eridently been followed by increase of salmon, and i the facilities given for preventing and punishing poaching in close times have also been highly useful towards this end. The removal of obstructions to the ascent of the salmon to the spawning grounds is | also very good, as is the prevention of the pollution of rivers. These two points are, however, of a very difficult nature to arrange with our manufacturing interests ; but it is to be hoped that in this scientific age something may be done to reconcile the interests of both parties— that is, as to fishing and manufactures. | The artificial breeding of fish will, I have no doubt, if properly followed out, be highly useful, and I regret to find apparently so very f«w in the kingdom who follow it to any extent that has yet been known in the rivers. The French have shown a very good example in breeding all kinds of fish artificially, and I hope, for the credit of Great Britain, that the example will be followed in both sea and river here. Salmon and other river fish are much under the command of man, and around our j coasts he has equal power over oysters and other shell fish. In the deep sea, by improvement in the vessels and modes of fishing, he may vastly increase the preaent supply, and add much to the quantity of the food of man. 1 shall now give you a short abstract of what has been done here this season in our little attempt to increase salmon by artificial propagation. The Tay and its tributaries are now teeming with spawning fish, and we have had abundance at our hand for our breeding purposes. The number of fish hauled from one small ford has been truly astonishing ; and had we field enough for it, we Could have planted four millions in place of four hundred thousand eggs. These we have now planted in safety, and, from the experience of former years, we may calculate on returning to the rirer, and thence to the Bea, m much produce from our boxes in young fish. How different are the results of the innumerable hazards the ova and young fish undergo in the natural way of spawning in the river ! And it is to be expected that mch nurseries, on a far more extensive scale, may b« adopted in all [ouv rivers. I Jtm glad to see Bomt partfe* already naoying in it, as

we have h*d;some experienced men from river* farther north th»n the Tays who attended here this season »nd carefully observed our operations, mth the view tp establish such works in their own districts. * We began oar operations on the 13th of November last, and hauled that day about sixty aalmon, out of which we only got one female ripe* for spawning, which produced only 5,000 ova. A vast proportion of these sixty fish were males ready to spawn. After the 13th we fished on each alternate day for the most p«rfc, and found our fiih increasing every day. On the 23rd, at the first haul we made we enclosed 123 salmon, and from these we obtained about 100,000 eggs. We completed our box-filling on the 3rd of December. Not to perplex you with details, 1 give you an abstract of what is done, as follows : — Nov. 13, 1866.— Fi11ed 5 boxes from 60 fiah hauled.

On November 16 and 17 we drew about forty fish a day, but got no eggs, so that the actual number of fish hauled was 650. We got our boxes just filled in time, as immediately after our operations heavy floods came on, which must have dispersed the salmon. It is to be hoped that the fish may have found good spawningbeds in the rivers. Of course, although we took such a great number of fish, we only found a small proportion perfectly ripe for our purpose. These we spawned and returned in a very lively state to the river. Our system in I spawning appeared to be more easy for the fish than | the natural way. In the river they labour for many days, and a continued fight exists among the" males until the process is over, aad often the banks of tb.6 rivers are strewed with dead males, in consequence, it is thought, of these contests. Both males and females, after being artificially spawned, are returned instantly to the river, and go off in a very healthy state when the short process they undergo is completed, and seem to be relieved by it. None of the fish, male or female, subjected to it have ever been found dead in the river, and several have been spawned at the same place two years afterwards The fish taken from the river and not spawned are returned instantly to it, and none have been known to be hurt by being enclosed in the nets This year we had our "lying-in-hospital" prepared to receive and keep the fish till they were ripe for our purpose ; but we got fish so abundantly that we did not require to retain a single fish in it. We had plenty, if we had retained them, to have stocked our boxes ten times. The number of fish in a gravid state was very great, and a few days would have brought them to the spawning. What we call foul fish were disgusting to look at — black, spotted, loathsome. A few clean fish, which we hauled with them, were very beautiful, and proved a great contrast when compared with the ill-favoured sister fish. When looking at the hitter, one wonders that poachers in a cold night of winter would go out and take them as food; to look at them might even turn the stomach of an Esquimaux. It surely must be for the sake of excitement that anybody takes up such an occupation. While I am writing(December 19) the Tay is now, and has been for some days past, rolling down in mighty flood, and it is to be feared that, though we have many fish in the Tay and its tributaries, from the weight of water and scattering of the fish, millions of ova must have failed in being deposited and impregnated ; so that, after all, there may be a poor retarn from the fish in the river. The British Association are to meet in Dundee next Bummer, and as there is very easy access from that town to Perth, I trust that a small committee from them will be induced to pay a visit to the Stormontfield breeding-ponds, and give us the benefit, from their knowledge of natural history, of their opinion and advice as to the conducting of such experiments, as they may yet become a matter of national interest in the way of increasing our salmon fisheries. We have shown that salmon when in the river is so much under the power of man, that it may be bred, reared, and treated like a domestic animal, and kept in a state of safety till instinct leads it to the sea. There we must leave it till it returns again as a fine, large, and delicate fish for the food of man. It does not go far from the river in which it was bred to attain to this state ; and we find in rivers, such as in the country around Hudson's Bay, which have not yet been fished^ that salmon increase till they are so overcrowded that they die in struggling to get forward in such great numbers. Our rivers here are not so crowded, for, on the contrary, many have been destroyed or allowed to go to waste ; and our steady endeavour should now be to restore and improve them. Peteb op the Pools. Stormontfield, Perth, December 19, 1866.

In addition to the foregoing details in reference to salmon-breeding, we compile the following extracts to show what is being done in thi3 matter in the Southern provinces. Mr. PringleP. Stoddart writes to the Otago Daily Times, on March 15 : — "As one who takes a very great interest in the introduction to the New Zealand rivers of salmon and trout, I cannot allow the present time to pass without urging the Acclimatisation Society, now that the introduction oE these fish is known to have succeeded so well in the Tasmanian rivers, to do something to secure to the New Zealand rivers the same privilege. Our climate is the best adapted in the Southern Hemisphere to the life of those fish, and our rivers cannot be surpassed ; ifc is therefore a pity that we should have allowed so long a time to elapse without doing something towards that object. The brown trout in Tasmania seem to have grown at a rate, I suppose, never before known by the most experienced fisherman ; and as^they are sure to spawn this winter, I have no doubt we could manage to get some of the ova secured to us. The salmon ova I think we ought to get shipped direct from the home rivers, as we are not so likely to get a supply of it, at least for two years to come, as it would, not do to disturb the few fish there are in the Derwent, by netting their spawning grounds." The Acclimitisation Society at Christchurch held a special meeting of its council on the 23rd of August last, for the purpose of taking into consideration the following letter of Dr. Officer : — " Hobart Town, Ist August. " The hopes of the Salmon Commissioners that the trout in the ponds would begin to spawn during the present winter have been realised, and they are anxious io'sli* w their appreciation of the aid they have received from Canterbury in their important enterprise by furnishing the Acclimatisation Society with a supply of ova at the earliest date in their power ; and, provided engagements can be made for their safe transmission, the Commissioners are prepared to forward to Christchurch a portion of the stock which they have just derived from the fish which they have in their possession. The Commissioners are not yet I in a position to say what will be the ultimate result of the spawning ; but n from fish so young and small, a large produce cannot be expected. They believe, however, that they will bb able to supply the Society with from 500 to 1,000 fish. To forward them by any of the small trading vessels between Hobart Town and your province, or liy a steamer via, Melbourne, except under the care of some trustworthy person especially selected for that duty, would be simply throwing them away. You some time since offered to go to Melbourne for the purpose of receiving and conveying to New Zealand a portion of the ova expected from England by the 'Xincolnshire.' Could you not come here on a similar errand ? If you cannot come, then some other reliable person must be (rent — and whoever cornea should be here within thirty or forty days from, this, in order that the ova may not be too far advanced for removal. The number of «ra that it is in the power of the Commissioners to supply at present is but small, bub it is yet sufficient to yield to you more fish than we have over possessed of this kind, and to enable you to stock all the rivers of New Zealand in due time. The ot» will be packed in exactly the same manner as those imported from England, and, if well secured and protected on the deck of the steamer, there is little doubt but they will reach their destination in safety. Should your society, however, be of opinion that the number of ov» which the Commissioners can send this setson is not worth the expense and trouble which their conveyance would cost, or that the time is too short to admit of yourself or some other agent coining here to receive them in charge, then they must wait until the next spawning season comes round, when, in »U probability, the Commissioners will be able to furnish a better supply. Their spawning stock will not, of course, have increased, but may be diminished ; yet their greater size and age will ensure a higher pro* dnee. The spawning of the trout bis been hoped for, for some time, but was not certain until & very short time before it commenced, so that it has not been in the power of the Commissioners to give earlier notice of the event. Should your society decide not to avail themselves of the present offer of the Commissioners, the experience of the season points out the date at which yourself or other agent should be here next winter.— B. OITiCIB, — Mr. Johrsloa, Curator, &c."

This letter from Dr. Officer, who is in charge of the trout and salmon depdb at Hobiurt Town, to Mr. Johnston, the Curator at Christchurch, shows very plainly that the Canterbury people are not only already in the field, but likely in all probability ia be the first to reap the silver harvest. And why thould this be so ? In reply to the above letter of Dr. Officer, which was read at the meeting, Mr. Gould proposed, and Mr. Macfarlane seconded : "That the thanks of the Society be tendered to Dr. Officer for the offer of the trout ova, but that owing to ike delay in receiving his letter, and the uncertainty of a vessel from Tasmania, they thought it would be advisable to wait the result of another year's spawning, when they would gladly accept his offer, and take steps for the safe transit to New Zealand. " As this resolution was carried at the meeting, and Mr. Gould announced that Messrs. J. T. Peacock and Co. had promised to bring any fish, gratuitously, from Tasmania in their vessels, the likelihood of any serious expense connected with the transit is small indeed. The Southland Timeshaa the following in an article on the acclimatisation of salmon in the rivers 6f Southland : — "From the habits of the salmon, and a glance at the physical features of the countries that j it frequents, there appears to L« reason to believe that New Zealand, and especially the Southern portion of the Middie Island, will be that portion of Australasia successful for its propagation, which will afford the colony a firm and sure foundation. The extreme north-wesfc corners of two great masses of land in the northern hemisphere appear to be, without doubt, the two centres of creation for the salmon race. And of these two nations of ealmonidse,_ the American seems to be the strongest, the largest individually, the mo*t numeroas, and the most flourishing. Whether this is owing to any vital specific national difference, or merely the rpault of climate, is not yet sufficiently known. Perhaps the American species is not only a different one from that of the European, but also the American country itself, in its physical conditions, better adapted than the European, to the iuileab and most perfect development of the fish possible. However, the physical and geographical conditions of Stewarts Island and the southern portion of the Middle Island of New Zealand preient such striking and identical similarities to those of Norway and Sweden, and the portion of North. America stretching north from Vancouver's Island, that it is impossible to escape the conviction that the shores, the rivers, the streams, andtha lakes of Otago, and especially Southland, are yet destined to be the third, and, perhaps, the greatest of all the centres of the salmon race."

„ iy „ 21 „ 23 » 24 „ 26 „ 28 Dec. 1 „ 3 >> »> >> >> 00 „ 24 94 44 „ 35 27 48 „ 48 „ 40 140 80 50 50 70 40 55 If II l» >> M » »» Total 360 boxes. 570 fish.