CULLING THE SEALS.

Evening Star, Issue 25939, 2 November 1946, Page 6

CULLING THE SEALS.

A rare opportunity was afforded this year for the taking of seals in New Zealand! waters, a, catch of 6;187 skins resulting from the first open season for twenty-two years. Although sealing formed a popular and profitable industry in southern waters at intervals between “ near ’’-extinction and regeneration for the first few decades after Captain Cook’s visit, seals have been closely protected! during the last half-century because of a very real threat of extermination. The authority ■was granted this year as fishermen complained that their industry was threatened by the toll of the fishing beds taken by the steadily increasing seal population. 1 The authorities appear to be satisfied that the slaughter made in the recent season does not justify an open season next year, and! it is possible that some years will elapse before the taking of seals is again made legal. It is recorded that the first party to ply the sealing trade in New Zealand waters landed at Dusky Bay in 1792, and in the first year took between 4,000 and 5,000 skins. It is typical _ of the trades dealing with wild life that oontinued operations brought the herds near to extinction. The authorities finally became concerned! about the future, and protected the seals, but they were unable to prevent poaching, and the rookeries increased either not at all or very slowly. Only about three times in this century has an open season been declared', and the herds are'•now much larger, although still far short of their original size. As a result of the long period of close seasons, there is now almost no one in New Zealand experienced in the culling of seals in such a way that the herds will not be endangered. Skin merchants who have handled the sealskins obtained this season state that the animals were taken without much discrimination, the hunters taking bulls, females, and pups as opportunity occurred. If this is correct, the authorities should' take steps in future to prevent any repetition of such wholesale slaughter. The protection of wild life is one of the few things that Governments can undertake more efficiently than private enterprise, and it is desirable that open seasons for sealing shoujd be under the immediate supervision of the dtepartment watching the interests of wild life. In most parts of the world sealing is done under direct Government control, it being the practice to restrict killing entirely to the superfluous young males which can be sacrificed without any danger to the herd. In the present case, the open season was declared primarily to reduce the herds for the protection of the fishing beds, and the Government had' no intention of attempting to establish a trade in sealskins. It might be advantageous, however, to send a Government party annually to the rookeries to observe the growth of the herds, cull the surplus bulls, and generally watch over the seal population. It is possible that the catch of skins might be sufficient to bear the cost involved, and such, a system would be much more sensible than periods of wholesale slaughter at long intervals.

Cricket enthusiasts'will be able to follow ball-by-ball descriptions of the various games in Australia played by the touring English team by tuning into the Australian short wave station operating on 9.6 megacycles on the 31-metre band. The broadcast can usually be picked up clearly from 3.30 onwards (New Zealand time). Later in the day another station operating on 7.4 megacycles on the 42-metre band may be heard. During the last few weeks members of the executive of the Otago Centennial ' Association have personally called oil a number of the city’s leading businesses, from whom very generous and substantial sums have been received. The list of contributors will be published in next Saturday’s ‘ Star.’ A new monthly record for sales tax receipts was established in July, the amount collected being £1,953,053, which is £223,959 above that for March, 1946, the previous record figure. Compared with June, the July total showed an increase of £805,596, or 70.2 per cent., while compared with July, 1945; the increase amounted to £797,405, or 69 per cent. In the seven months ended in July, receipts totalled £9,942,970, an increase of 29 per cent, on the first seven months of 1945. On (Monday morning the area commander, Area XI. (Lieutenant-colonel S. M. Satterthivaite. N.Z.S.C.), will inspect the King’s! High School cadet unit. He will he accompanied by representatives of the Territorial Association of Otago. The unit at the Otago Boys’ High School will be inspected ill the afternoon. During the first week of the health stamp campaign, sales in the Dunedin district totalled £6,255 16s 9d. Of this amount £5,190 14s, 8d camo from Dunedin and suburbs, while the outlying districts accounted for the remainding £1,065 2s Id. In the Police Court this morning a statutory first offender for drunkenness, John McNeil, was convicted and discharged by the presiding justices of the peace, Messrs H. E. Barth and J. G. Ernngton.

Nearly £9OO was collected yesterday in the annual street day appeal of the St. John Ambulance Association. A substantial proportion of this was contributed by the staffs of various Dunedin firms, and there was a gratifying return from the stall at which flowers and goods were sold by women members of-tho association. The , total return was below that of last year. One of the poorest whitebait seasons for the last six years is being experienced in the Buller district, and the day .on which in previous seasons record catches have been .made—Labour Day—went by with only diminutive catches because of the . flooded state of the Buller and nearby rivers. On Tuesday the rivers were nearly back to normal, and in the Orowaiti River fishermen made catches of up to seven and eight pints in some localities. Fishermen on the Buller River were not so fortunate. The season, which ends officially on December 15, may yet provide lucrative employment for fishers, as in previous years the run during November has often been prolific. The opinion of : workers in the baking industry following the Arbitration Court’s judgment for the retention of the six-day week in the award sugfests tflat the men may stand by, the ecision made in January to bake bread on only a five-day 40-hour. week,... As a copy of the new award has not yet been' received in Auckland, the men do not know if there are any compensatory clauses which may lead to the acceptance of a six-dav week. The secretary of the Auckland Bakers’ Union, Mr F. H. Bourke, said that until he had seen the award he. could not comment. Acceptance of a six-day. week would be a matter for the men in the industry to decide. It is estimated that about a third of the wool in the Rongotai fire will be saved. Although the total number of bales stored in the buildings destroyed by fire is not accurately known, the State Fire Office estimates the saving at between 9,000 and 10,000 bales of approximately 26,700 stored.—Press Association.

The first track trials at Paekakariki of locomotive K 927 which has been converted to oil fuel were successful, stated railway officials at Wellington. The engine was tested without load to check on the new equipment, but later will pull full loads between Paekakariki and Taihape. Fuel tanks have been installed at both ends of this section. of the main trunk.—-Press Association.

The increasing tendency of American capital to drift to Australia to participate in Australian industry on a partnership - basis was referred to by a prominent. Sydney industrialist, Mr Angus Macdonald, who is travelling on the Monterey to the United States. He said at Auckland that as a direct outcome of the Pacific war and'in line with the policy to build Australia into a strong self-supporting industrial nation every encouragement was being given to foreign capital as well as British. The strikes in Australia were, however, still a tremendous deterrent to plans for expansion. A report concerning the relationship olf Dr A. ' Hodge ana the .Tabernacle Church to the Baptist Union of New Zealand was presented at the annual assembly of the union, which is being held in Auckland.' The report was taken in committee, and a' statement issued later said , that progress had been made in the negotiations, although matters had not reached a stage where the council could make any definite recommendations to the assembly. Full confidence in the council was expressed by the assembly. The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand in its session at Wanganui yesterday approved of the observance of Remembrance Sunday on November 10, but asked that congregations start the services on that day at 10.45 a.m. in order that the two-minute period of silence be observed at 11 o’clock.

Root vegetables of such poor quality that in normal times they would be considered fit only for stock feed are to-day bringing record prices, says a Sydney message. This is due to the potato shortage caused by the recent waterside strike, which has resulted in quantities of potatoes having to be dumped, while others have been left in Tasmania. The prolonged drought has seriously reduced production in areas normally supplying Sydney with all types of vegetables. Carrots are selling at up to lOd a lb, sweet potatoes ,10d, pumpkin lOd, and parsnips Is 6d. Market indications are that prices will be even higher, as potatoes sold surreptitiously have brought £3 a bag. Repairs to the oil cooling system of the inner starboard engine of the British Halifax bomber Mercury were completed at Ohakea yesterday afternoon. The machine left the ’drome this morning at one minute to 9 for Australia. The machine was test flown after the completion of the repairs, and was functioning satisfactorily. Palmerston North Association message.’