THE PRICE OF FISH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15645, 26 June 1914, Page 10

THE PRICE OF FISH.

Sir,— is delaying tho municipal fish markets promised some time ago by the Mayor? The public want them, ana so do tho dealers and fishormen. Then why not go ahoad? Tho absurd price of fish, which costs nothing to produce compared with tliat of meat, which must be bred and reared on costly cultivated la.nd, has long been a standing gi'ievanoe of tho community and it is to be hoped that the investigations of Professor Prince will speedily result in the establishment of tho fishing industry on a proper and broader basis, and thereby effect a considerable saving to tho inhabitants of this country, Kahka.

Sir.Tlx© mil of tho whole fisheries question, so far as Auckland i» concerned, will be found in tho Herald's question i "Does lie (Professor Prince) justify the prohibition of trawling in gulf waters, while ho recommends improved gear?" Wo know quito tut well as Professor Prince that wo want Improved gear for catching fish, but wo are not likely to get it until tho question of gulf trawling is finally Buttled. If the echimpjpor spawn In tho shallow water of tho Thames Gulf, and do not go wit into the deep son for that purpose, there Is some ji'«tiflnation for tho 'prohibition of trawling ... tho gulf. My contention Is that the enormous quantities of fluh caught In British wntoro and tlio North Boa fire made possible owing to the onormoun telling power and the slaughter of fish that has neon going on for years. 'Hie moro edible fish the lwm food there is for natural enemies of tho edible fish- The moro fish of all kinds caught and destroyed, the more smaller fornifl of life in tho water will bo available its a food supply for tho edible fish Hint breod in inconceivable numbers under favourable atmospheric conditions. I noticed one day fast woclt that tho sea at Raklno Island was teeming with forma of life. Wo then had one sovorely cold day and night, with frost inland and up tho fresh-water rivers. The consequence was that the temperature of tho water had killed the smaller forms of life apd I could see the bottom at l2Tt depth easier than I could see 3ft on the previous day. My. contention is that the sea cannot be ''fished out," and the more we catch and kill the faster will bo the increase. England is now supplying every city in the world with fish, and all this may be traced to the fact that the quantity of fish caught and killed helps nature to produce still larger quantities of the kinds caught, and by "thinning out" leaves a lesser number as a food supply to natural onemios. If we caught all tho edible fish inside tho Hauraki Gulf to-morrow we should not have taken away their food supply, and tho Gulf would bo again filled with edible fish on the following day. If gulf trawling is likely to "fish out the sea ' it should not be allowed, but if there is no danger of fishing out the sea it would bo belter to catch the fish ip smooth, shallow water instead of sending the trawlers outsido to catch them. Consumers would not have to pay the trawlers to»catcb them under expensive conditions, and provide cool storage on board to bring them to market. • A. Saktqbp.