POACHING RAHPANT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17942, 18 November 1921, Page 4

POACHING RAHPANT.

LOSS OF FISH AND GAME.

PROTECTIVE LAWS IGNORED.

A DIFFICULT PROBLEM. [BY TTIEGBAPH—OWX COBRESPOXDEHT.] WELLINGTON. Thursday. For somo time past poaching has been rampant in the Wellington district, and tho local Acclimatisation Society apparently has been ablo to do little to stop it. One of the rangers recently wrote a memorandum to the society on the subject, and suggested that the society would have to develop a different policy if it wished to conserve fish and game. Mr. L. _F. Ayson, chief inspector of fisheries, in an interview, confirms the statements made by the ranger. He eayg game birds, both native and imported are being shot without a license tO out of season. Native pigeons and other birds wholly protected are shot j n dj s . criminately, while trout and salmon are killed wholesale by explosives and other means. There i 6 also wholesale destruction in tho spawning beds in the b.eedin" season. A great many of the ordinarilv respectable residents of the towns and country seem to think nothing of poach, ing fish and game, and respect for the game laws and the true spoitin*-' spirit are wanting on every side. " Whether a spirit of lawlessness that is pervading this as we 1 as all other countries at the present time has anything to do with it, or whether it is that acclimatisation societies, through lack of funds or other reasons, cannot keep poaching in check, I am unable to sav," he continued. " However, there is "no doubt that poaching in its very worst form is on the increase every year, and 1 feel that unless effective measurjs are taken to keep it in check there is a great risk that it will get out of hand f and that the law will be openly defied. " How to check this evil, which tends to undo the work of the societies and 6poil the sport for legitimate sportsmen is a matter for serious thought by all acclimatisation bodies, and in getting the public to realise the necessity of observing any necessary protective regulations they would, I think, have the sympathy of the Government. It is easy to make laws for the protection of fish "and game, but beyond the mere placing of a law on the Statute Book there is the necessity of making that law effective. When thj need for a law is realised by the general public, it will' always be found that there will be little necessity of enforcing it." Mr. Ayson advocates a campaign by the societies with a view to instilling in the public mind tho quaViies of true sportsmanship. Children ought, he savs, to be taught a love of animals, birds, and fish, and a love for clean sport. Tru conservation of fish and came will otilv be effected when the public is interested in its preservation, and by the sporting spirit shown by those who fish and shoot Unemployed on public works are blamed for killing fish by the use of explosives in the streams.