FISH SUPPLY

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 117, 13 November 1929, Page 10

FISH SUPPLY

IS THERE DEPLETION ?

VIEWS OF CHIEF INSPECTOR

Eeports from several of the principal fishing-grounds in New Zealand show that during recent years there has been marked depletion of the fish supply, necessitating the boats engaged seeking new areas for their operations. In reply to inquiries by "Tho Post" as to the cause, or causes, of the depletion, Mr. A. E. Hefford, Chief Inspector of Fisheries, stated that this question had been the subject of investigation and had been alluded to from time to time in his published official reports. As an instance, he mentioned the snapper fishery in the Hauraki Gulf. His remarks in regard to this fishing-ground applied in a large measure to other fishing-grounds and other fish.es.

"What is implied by. depletion?" asked Mr. Hefford. ""If it is merely a question as to'whether there are as many snapper in the Hauraki Gulf as formerly," he said, "the reply can be made immediately and with confidence in the negative. How does one know this? There is, indeed, no way of deciding as to the absolute quantity of the snapper stock in the Gulf, but for purposes of comparison one judges by the quantity which can be caught by a standard method of fishing.- No statistical records of catches are available, but there is convincing evidence from many sources that it has become 'more and more difficult to catch snapper by the ordinary method of linefishing. Many people who are no more than middle-aged can remember when at almost any time a catch of snapper could be made with a' handline in proximity to practically any beach in the Auckland district; and comparatively few years ago, although the fishing had deteriorated in close proximity to the port of Auckland, it was still possible to make satisfactory catches with relative ease in most parts of the Gulf. UNIVERSAL EXPERIENCE. "This state of things," said Mr. Hefford, "is by no means confined to the Hauraki Gulf. It is practically a universal experience where fishinggrounds, which had hitherto been fished but little, are regularly exploited by commercial fishermen. There is at first a period when fishing is easy and very productive. This removes what one may call the accumulated stock. People have become imbued with the idea of the unlimited abundance offish life, and the impossibility of man's abstractions ever having any appreciable effect in reducing it. "The fecundity of most of our common fishes, the enormous number of eggs spawned by a single :fish, have encouraged in the minds of superficial observers the impression of a vast production of fish life. The fact of the matter is that, if the tremendous fecundity of sea-fishes /shows anything it shows how desperate are the' risks confronting every newborn generation. The enormous number of eggs spawned by a single fish is commonly referred to by the term feenndity; but this physiological character must not be mistaken for absolute prolificness in the sense of a rapid multiplication of' adult individuals."