QUINNAT SALMON IN NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16098, 11 December 1915, Page 5 (Supplement)

QUINNAT SALMON IN NEW ZEALAND.

The attempt to acclimatise the biggest of the Pacific salmons in New Zealand has i been observed with much interest by many I anglers in this country, and in other parts j of the world, and the occasional items of news which have suggested that the experiment is succeeding have been wel- ( corned. The following communication, ! issued by the High Commissioner for New I Zealand "and published in the Field, throws I a good deal more light on the situation. i It states :—" Evidence -of the success with which efforts to establish the quinnat salmon in New Zealand have been rewarded has again been furnished by the run of fish in the South Island rivers during ; the recent spawning season. The Com- ! missioner of Fisheries, Mr. L. F. Ayson, ' states that the largest spawning has taken ' place in the Waitaki River, its four laTge '; tributaries, and through the lakes of the | Southern Alps, almost up to where the I waters issuing from the glaciers begin to I assume the character of rivers. The largest j fish were seen in the Dobson River, and two measured 38iin and 36* in respectively. The first would weigh 501b and the second I 401b to 451b. The fish have been found ' in abundance in the Rangitata and Rakaia : Rivers and elsewhere, and line fishers have occasionally caught them when sea fishing. Reports of the manager of the Hakataramea hatchery show that splendid fish have been seen far inland in a number of the rivers rising in the Southern Alps. The quinnat salmon were first introduced to New Zealand in 1900. and eggs were imported for six years in succession. 1 he fry was first liberated in the Hakataramea and its tributaries, and later in the Wai 1 , taki The potential value of the quinnat ' salmon to New Zealand as a sporting fish ' and a valuable addition to the food an poly 1 j of the country is evidently very great." ; ; There are several points of interest in ' this report. One is the evident tendency ' of quinnat in New Zealand, as in British 1 Columbia, to make for head waters. The ' distance which these fish travel up such '- rivers as the Eraser has long been aci counted one of the wonders of nature. - New Zealand, of course, offers no distances i to running fish which will at all compare - ; with those of the Pacific Coast, but it is : : evident that the quinnat travel as far as - j thev can get. ..,,.. • ; Another interesting point is the tact ; ' that line fishers at sea have causht occa- > ' sional specimens, for this naturally leads ! to speculation, as to what snorting value j the fish may have in their new home. In British Columbia the quinnat has shown < wonderful sport in estuarial waters, and " the records of the mouth of the Campbell ■ River are well known. Strong tackle and 1 a spoonbait trailed behind a boat have • mostly been responsible for captures. • There* is a widespread belief that once the 3 fish are in fresh water they are useless f for purposes of sport, but on the other? r band there is a 'Certain amount of evidence I that this is not a universal rule.- There

are one or two records of sport in fresh water with quinnat, always, we fancy, at some point in a river where a tributary runs in or where there is some obstruction. A thought which will occur to a good many people is whether in the shorter rivers of New Zealand the quinnat will not have' so much need to conserve its

energies for travelling. It is obvious that a fish which has to cover some 1500 miles —and we believe they have been found even turther from the sea than thatin a limited time can have no leisure for dalliance by the way. But in a country where distances are comparatively short there seems no reason why the fish should not pause occasionally, look about him,

and even take a rlv or bait. It would be a real triumph for New Zealand if the new importations gradually took on the character of salmon in the old country. S. salar and S. quinnat are sufficiently alike in most ways to make this speculation attractive, even though it might not commend itself at the first glance to men of science. It ii to bt remembered that

Nature is very adaptable, and many creatures change their habits materially with a change of abode which brings new needs or new opportunities. In any case, it is pretty certain that as the fish increase in number New Zealanders may reasonably hope for some fine estuarial fishing of the kind that has won bo much, appreciation in British Columbia.