80,000 Fish Fry Dead At Onerahi

Northern Advocate, 24 December 1938, Page 3

80,000 Fish Fry Dead At Onerahi

Through the death of 80,000 rainbow trout fingerlings the Whangarei Acclimatisation Society has suffered a severe loss. | These fingerlings had been hatchj ed from the ova stage at the society’s hatchery, Onerahi, the only hatchery I north of Rotorua. Coming on remarkably well through the fry stage, the trout had been put into two holding ponds of about 800 gallons capacity each, and were in excellent condition and almost ready for liberation. In Usual Order. On Wednesday evening, the trout had been fed as usual by the Curator, Mr P. J. Mcllvride, and everything appeared to be in order. Next morning, however,, all except about 80 in one pond 'and about 300 in another were dead.

These ponds are situated a little distance from the curator’s house in a small valley and are watered by a spring-fed stream. Mr Mcllvride, who has had extensive experience in the raising of trout, is 'at a loss to account for the death of the fingerlings unless some person maliciously contaminated the water flowing into the ponds. Suspicions Aroused.

On account of this suspicion the Whangarei police have been carrying out investigations and a sample of the water and of the dead flngerj lings have been sent to Wellington I for analysis. Although the police do not connect the two occurrences, on the night that the fingerlings died the curator’s orchard, situated close to his house, was stripped of its fruit. The fingerlings were valued at £320 and so a severe financial loss to the society will result, but the greater loss is that the progressive policy of stocking Northern streams that has been carried out by the society for the past few years will be retarded.