LARGE SHARKS ON COAST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17360, 6 January 1920, Page 8

LARGE SHARKS ON COAST.

INDUSTRY AT MATAKANA. THE METHOD OF CAPTURE ' ! ShsiMshmg; as aw ladastrj is carried 'flit to a. certain esiicnt at MataSaita, about 40' miles north' of Auckland. Even -nj.pte-

European days the : coast fat. this locality was noted for : its ■ xnfestmenfc by , sharks,, and the-, name Mafatfcsna, which means "putrid fish,'* is said ; to hare been given to ii by the Maoris from the malodorous 1 stench from their practic* of drying on the beach • the catcher taken from iho prolific, wat«sa. «£ the coast. The reaaffit t fijE!t-na abundance ,of the .fish, at certain; seasons-of the year is that ■My r swam 'into, th« shallow* water, off itatakana,, for breeding purposes . in the siimmer months, anctJ then : readily: fail a prty to fishermen. 7 Some years ago a factory xn& opened Sit the district, with the'''object of extractteg nil from the livers of sharks for mjedkinfl uses, and rendering down the carcases to s convert them into : fertiliser. The fins were saved and driatE for expestaikm to the- Far East, wherei.v.ifiej'j sreo esteemed & delicacy, ,by tte'Chinese iposaaC.?- The factory « canijiittered of: siifSskaft importance to have ■ife sitoaiwa ißificated on the Admiralty charm. Afr'pr«Kaft it is idle," but the industry of oa : atosdnja and export of fins; and tho use of the flesh as fertiliser is still carried ton an a moderate scale byMr. lied Green, a settksr in the district, and in. a smaller degree; by other farmers. i The present is the 'time of year when sharks abound on the Mafakasa flats, and

fcge taks» aw made: whenever the boats pflt out. An Affiiftod, visitor In the dis'tefcfi. during the- <lrfctaias'and;.?rew Year" Eoßdaro witnessed? the capture of several forraiiahfe'nsh, 9!fe and KHfi.; in. Isngth, and on Ms.; Green's (apedi&ina for nannfacturing' patpoaes, it -is z not nnflominon,: to ssrars from 100 t0»153 ia a day, mostly of large dimensronsi.: - In securing them stout '-manila': lines ate'nsed, with strong hooks, ( and the lure is genfeiaby the flesh of the Sabawatl To attract the fish to the spot? where it is proposed to* cast the line*, it is usual to arwera out on, the surijice of the water a -quantity of the.: oil from the Hversr- of ? previously caught

sharks, an expedient"which aelclom fails to bring to the loeslitysoßJo of the largest scavengers lurking in the neighbourhood.

'„*■ la the cast of the lsrgfiat'fish it is naiMl ten play^them^ for some trrae,'' occasionally haalia? them ur>;.:to. the.boat's siie, and therct; bitting Bern npon -the snout with i Eiavy mallet, nhftS they are .Sufficiently exhausted to; be ultimately- kept; alongside, and dispatched with tbe knife. The smaller sharks;; say of ,f4fV;or' sft, can safety be brought into l the boat at the fin* haul, aid htheropst out ;of 'misery 'witlt the mallet. •• :, ... '?'l'?