OUR FISHERIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7403, 11 August 1885, Page 6

OUR FISHERIES.

Oub Ardmore correspondent writes on Saturday last as follows :—" The discussion on 'Fish, Fishing, and Fisheries,' at the St. Matthew's Debating Society, induces me to trouble you with a few particulars. Some fifteen years ago there appeared in the New Zealand Hebald a favourable notice of a somewhat glowing report of Stewart'fl Island, that had been written by a surveyor. I got a copy of the report, and was so impressed by its perusal that I wrote to Mr. Stout — then a member of the Provincial Government of O.tago—to get some Shetland fishermen and settle them on Stewart's Island. _ They were brought out and settled on the island ; caught abundance of fish, but found no market for them, and eventually the men were obliged to come over to Inveroargill for more regular and remunerative employment. The next attempt to foster fisheries was made by Mr. R. J. Creighton in the House of Representatives, who agitated for a bonus. Mr. Creighton's idea was to have fisheries at the Hen and Chickens and Whsngarei Heads, utilising the knowledge of the Nova Scotia settlers in that neighbourhood, and seeking a market for the cured fish in Batavia and other Eastern settlements. No bonus, however, was claimed, as the speculation — with the appliances in th<> colony at the time—was not sufficiently encouraging.''