SALMON IN NEW ZEALAND.

Grey River Argus, 4 August 1908, Page 1

SALMON IN NEW ZEALAND.

(TVA COLLECTING OPERATIONS Ll ■ • ' ;. '' "■ (•■-;■ A'A.

A SUCCESSFUL SEASON.

(The Dominion)

This year the ova collecting operations from quinnat salmon at Hakatanamea have been conducted with .considerable success. In "~^e_ initial stages the salmon- __ fought shy of the nets put ''down, aiid Mr L. F._ Ayson, Chief Inspector of- Fisheries/" therefore, went to HakataTamea, Tand, under his supervision, w^7*s>ro- | gressed, satisfactory. That' the quin- 1 nat salmon is now thoroughly acclima- , tised in New Zealand waters seems certain. The fish ran well this year/ some very fine specimens 'being netted, and after undergoing, tlie stripping process were liberated again. One, however, jumped out of the ponds, and was found dead next day. Mr Ayson se.it the fish/to Dunedin, where Mr E. Jennings^ Government Taxidermist, mouted it on an ebony colored shield. The fish is; now at Mr Ayson's office, and gives' one an idea of the size to which these salmon already grow in New Zealand waters. It is an excellent specimen of a spent male quinnat salmon, its' measurements being: Length 3ft 4in; girth, 25 in; and weight, 3 ili>. Authorities assert that a male quinnat at the close of a,3«pawn. ing season loses about one-third of its weight, so it is fair to suppose 'that the present specimen before entering the river exceeded forty pounds in weight. Fifty or sixty miles above the Hakataramea hatchery, in the Haldahe I Creek,' Hr Ayson saw. tracks where the quinnat had "been ' footing" for spiawn. ing purposes. Some specimens were procured so as 7 to place th 6 matter •beyond doubt and Mr Edgar R.TWaite, R.L.S., curator of the Canterbury Museum, had no. hesitation in pronouncing them to be quinnat salmon. I A peculiarity about the quinnat is 1 th.it, in spawning, great mortality occurs. They frequently wear "the ventral, anal, and tail 'fins away, -and the male in the spawning season develops canine teethT and an exceedingly ugly head. When they first enter the rivers the fish are distinguishable by a blue back, red sides, and silver belly This colouring; disappears as the

spawning season heightens, and the < fish, if not minus fins and disabled returns to the sea a dull greyish colour. 7 Seme southern authorities consider the quinnat of no use as a. sporting fish, aqd complain that th«y destroy, innumerable trout while going up the rivers tb spawn. Authoroi ties" have repeatedly repudiated the idea, aad stafe that the quinnat feeds only in the sea They are, however, frequently caught on spinning baits in the estuaries of the lange southern rivers. Quinnat salmon eggs Were first imported to New Zealand in 1875, and from then till 1880 several further shipments were received by the Govern msnt and some by acclimatisation societies These importations, however, produced no results, for, notwithstanding the fact that, the fisfi W;ere successfully haatched out, on being- liberated nothing- more was heard of them. In igoo the Government established a hatchery at Hakataramea, on the -tributary of th» Waitakf River, Mr " Ayson having chosen that site as the most suitable for the worlc iri hand. The first consignment of ova for the Government Salmon Station arrived in 'January, 1901. It arrived in first-class order, and was supplied by the United States Bureau of Fisheries, from its Baird Hatchery on the M'Cloud ( a tributary of the Sacramento), in California Other shipments have arrived since, and have hatched" out well. It is particularly gratifying to Mr Ayson who took the matter in hand a few years ago, to . know that his efforts have been successful, after so many previous attempts had failed.