HAURAKI GULF FISHING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18567, 27 November 1923, Page 9

HAURAKI GULF FISHING.

THE SEINING RESTRICTIONS.

DEEMED EXP^RIK.^TAL.

OBJECTIONS TO DECISION.

The restrictions placed upon Danish seine-net fishing, precluding such operations from the waters of the Firth of Thames, have caused considerable surprise and no little disappointment to those directly concerned in the fishing industry fin Auckland. . j _ The Chief Inspector of Fisheries, Mr. L. F Ayson, yesterday said there had been little experience of the operations of the Danish seine net in New Zealand waters. He conveyed the idea that the restrictions now made must be deemed to, be of an experimental character. It is co be noted that, by direction of the Minister for Marine, the Hon. G J- Anderson, he has given instructions to the local inspector of fisheries to make occasional trips during the next six months-In one of Sanford's seining vessels and to report in regard to locality of seining operations, depth of water,' kinds of fish caught and the numbers of immature and dead fish taken in each haul. Similarly observations are to be made regarding seine hsning 'by launches. . The opinion of Mr. Ayson is that, properly used, the Danish seine net is not likely to be at all destructive to immature fish. On the trip made by the Minister in the Countess last Friday, Mr. Avson said, he had carefully examined the haul, and he found not one immature fish. He further voiced the view that Danish seining is likely to become general throughout New Zealand, for up to a certain depth of water as many fish can be caught by it as by the trawler and it has the advantage of not destroy ing the fish life. Just as undersized fish could be thrown out from the ordinary seine net, so any immature fish caught in the Danish seine could be put back again into the sea. The Danish seine was used extensively in the North Sea, and by American and Canadian fishermen. Its adoption, said the chief inspector, would cheapen the cost of fish, because fit would ensure a regularity of supply. The new method would also open up the prospect of cur ing fish for export.

Seeking New Grounds. The attitude of those engaged in the fishing industry was outlined by Mr. Gilbert Sanford, managing director of Sanford's, Limited. The restriction seemed to him, he said, as the creation of a monoply of the Firth of Thames to the Thames fishermen. His view was that the Minister should not have placed re strictions on the seine-net method of fishing until it had been proved that this system of fishing caused harm to the sea bottom, and meant the destruction to immature fish. It was rather humorous that the seine net was restricted in no other part of -"he world, and yet, after being only a few months in operation in New" the powers that he had seen fit to establish restrictions .

Dealing with the effect of the restriction. Mr. Sanford said it was not easy yet to say what would prove to be the most profitable area for Danish seining. The new regulation debarred them from the flounder ground of the Hauraki Gulf. They were not, however, going to give up seining; but it wo'ild mean investigations to find the best grounds suitable for such fishing in the near •vicinity of Auckland. The supply of flounder would certainly be diminished. In regard to trawling, Mr. Sanford said the present restricted area should be the same as that for purse seining. Now the line south of which trawling might not be conducted was irom Tiritiri to Cabbage Bay, on the Coromandel coast. He would have the trawling restriction line pass ing from Deadman Point to Ponui Spit light, and that line should serve both for trawling and seining. In the " lean " fishing months—June, July, and August— when, exceptionally cold and stormy con ditions prevailed, and fish were very scarce, the supply of fish to Auckland would be much greater if the trawling restrictions were amended on the lines he suggested. It would mean a considerable saving of time and cheaper fish for the people. Fisheries Board Urged.

" What wo ne\] in New Zealand." said Mr. Sanford, " is a Fisheries Board, .vhich should have control of all fishery matters, both as regards fresh and salt-water fish. The Acclimatisation Societies Bhould be abolished. The experts of the board should, i suggest, study the habits of fish, and all matters connected with spawning and migration. I hold the opinion that it would be distinctly better for all parties concerned if the Marine Department were divorced entirely from the fishing question, on the ground that those responsible for the operations of the department, from the Minister downwards, are continually changing as the political situation changes." Continuing, Mr, Sanford said that very little was known in New Zealand about the habits of fish. He urged that a fish hatchery should be established in each of the fishing centres of New Zealand, so that all matters relating to edible fish could be studied from the period of spawning up to the time the fish had become mature. The Fisheries Board in England had done most useful work in that direction, and on the question of fish migration the English Board had particulars of a marked plaice which had travelled 1500 miles from , the spot at which it had been liberated. Mr. Sanford drew a telling contrast between the vast amount of knowledge of fish acquired in Britain and the dearth of such informa tion in the Dominion, and he expressed the further view that nothing was known here of the marine growths upon which fish feed. "It would surely be," he said, " a distinctly useful channel of investiga tion for the Government to take up. If it were done perhaps we should be able bo get down to a common-sense appreciation of the whole question."