LAND AND WATER

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 4824, 29 November 1902, Page 6 (Supplement)

LAND AND WATER

(By "DalbiaO The cry about poor fishing or floor fish it being echoed all over the country. Canterbury anglers complain that although thoro are plenty o' fish of small size a big fish is a rarity. A great number of fair-sized trout were liberated in tho Avou before the season opened, but they are reported to bo scarcer than ever before in the terrace reaches of tho river. Tho question of tho rights of laudowners over tho fishing in their rivers will have to bo faced by societies sooner or later. Of course the legal aspect of tlie matter requires no further settlement. Tho only question is how far tho societies will have to go in order to secure for their license-holders a" duo measure of freedom over the best .fishing streams. The "Observer” states that as a protest against what they consider to bo tho improper extension of legal rights to the Wellington Acclimatisation Society many propertyholders in tho Wairarapa intend to decline permission to anyone holding a license from the society to go upon their land to fish. If tho owners have not the right to give a visiting friend leave to fish in their own creeks, tney are not going to grant such privilege to the friends (at a pound a head) of tho Acclimatisation Society. If the owners adhere to their resolution, licenses will be almost worthless. -

Tne. annual report of the division- of veterinary science contains tiio report of Air ijiiruUi on spißciiueus or paralysed, trout received Dy mm iruin the Ulmrou Haicneiy. following on tnese iuvesugacions Arr Jl. tt Wilkie, irn onlcer or cue uivisiou, was despatcned to toe pouua, and his report is so important tliut i give it* in exleuso. He says:—"The his- , lory oi the cusp wasthatouc of one lot of some two Hundred salmon over seventy Had died witnm the past eight mouths, '.those salmon were specimens ot tiio "Saline salar,” were three years of age, and were hatched from ova imported from Great tin tain. 'l'lxey had been kept most of their lives in a good pond of sullicieut size and depth, with', excellent aeration, the influent Having a very good fall. After several deaths had taken' place they were removed to a round pond of good size and a maximum depth of about 6ft, the aeration of which was not by any means so good. Here the mortality continued, and after two weeks in this pond they were removed to a well aerated race which had a perforated wooden division in the middle, the apparently healthy fish being placed in one end and the diseased in the other. The diet of these fish had always been sheep’s liver obtained in a fresh condition front the Dunedin Abattoir, excepting for one short space of time when they were fed on maggots. They have never been in suit water except for a few salt baths, when they were only immersed a few minutes each. A large piece of rock-salt had been placed in the race, but this was not sufficient to affect the water materially, and as there was a rapid influent and effluent the effect was further minimised. On examination of the healthy fish I found these to ho, ns is only to be expected of salmon in confinement and cbnstant fresh water, of inferior development, being far smaller for tbeir age f!mn is the case with salmon under natural conditions. I also noticed an unusual number of deformities among these fish, and I am of opinion these and possibly to some extent the arrest of general development may be due to weakness of the ova from which these fishes were hatched. On examination of the diseased fish which were in segregation I found that the symptoms pointed to excessive weakness, and inability to maintain a normal equdibriura in the water. Some of them through lying on the side or belly at the bottom of the The children in more than one hundred families in the Carterton district have been attacked by measles and influenza. The attendance at the Carterton School has gradually dwindled from 267 to 60, and adverse comment is made at the school being kept open a"d thus acting as an active instrument in disseminating sickness. , As the result of negotiations which have been for some time pending, Mr Alfred Hill has decided to take up ins residence ?ii Palmerston North, special inducements have been licit! out for him to do so; and as Mr Hill isanxious to devote himr-.f in a largo measure to composition, the arrangement scorns lo bo a satisfactory one. Monday, the Ist December, will bo observed* as a Government holiday m celebration of St. Andrew’s Day. race had abrasions and sores on the body, and in some cases these sores had become covered with a fungus, which, however, on examination I concluded was not saprolognia. All these fish were quite free from maggots in the gills, or any externa! parasites. The report goes on" to describe the exhibited bv the diseased fish, and continues:—As a result of the investigation T am very much inclined to believe that the ova

which these .salmon wcro hatched uvro badly kept and sustained injury on t!io \oya;,-c Irma l/igluml. ami on inquiry, ol .Mr" am lurthcr confirmed in il-ul opinion by his informing me that at the timo of arrival )m considered tho ova to ho Miiail, and them wore a largo number of dead ova in tins particular consignment. Given, therefore, salmon hatched from inferior ova. I would suggest that, the artificial conditions under which theso young salmon have to ho kept is more? Jikclv to affect them detrimentally than it would in the case of stronger iisli, and ] think it is generally admitted that even the strongest do not develop in confinement and constant- fresh water anything like so well or rapidly as those 1 hat periodically run. down to the sea. Tlio first run to the sea of the smoUs. with all the accompaniments of change of water, and the groat variation of diet they obtain, have no com-pen-citing parallel in the life of the pond-kept saline:;, and i have suggested time, ponding your furtherance of tho investigation, as those iisli cannot bo placed in sett-water for a time, they havo a change of diet; the now diet lo consist of any kind of sea food, preferably small crustaceans of any land obtainable, or, failing that, chopped cod, oysters, and mussels. On a later visit to the ponds Mr Wilkie found that the disease had , apread, and several trout wore affected, ono a Loch Loven weighing 4lb. The disease was also apparent among tho five-year-old salmon winch had always been in a jmnd Laving no connection with tho i-fti-o in which tho originally diseased fish were, and is KUpniicd with water direct from the creek which supplies tho whole hatchery. Mr M ilkie has taken further steps with a view to arriving at the origin of the disease, but the attempt to isolate an organism has bo far failed. Tho annual angling competition (with bare fiy only) lor medals presented by tho Olugo Acclimatisation Society took place on tho U’aipatu river on tho Bth inst. Tho gold medal was won by D. Mill, jun.. who took S 3 fish weighing 27 pounds; and tho silver medal by Tiieo. Murray, who took 2t> fish weighing 20 pounds. There wore 21 competitors. D. Mill also won (witli 55 fish weighing 311 b) tao competition with any legal bait. K. Spiers MS fish, 301 b) was second. There were twelve competitors. Trout havo been caught this 3*car for the first time in a small lake Waiotapu, whoro fine fish recently succumbed to a sportsman's hour. An angler recently took seven fish, totalling 40lb. from tho Okoro river, off Lake Kotoiti. The largest was 04lb, I saw tho case of supposed South African tick at Faimexstou tho other day, Tho duck, a wild one, had been caught iu a lagoon near the town. It was seen to bo weak and sickly, and on being captured was found tone infested with' ticks, which established themselves on its neck whoro tho bird was unable to hurt them. Air T. \V. Kirk (Government Biologist) and Mr A. lv. Young (Into of tho Veterinary Bivision), who was in South Africa with ono of the New Zealand rogime*nts, both examined the ticks and were convinced that they were not the African tick. They are closely allied to the species which prey? on penI - gains, kiwis, and many native birds. It would be interesting to know to what extent the tick is prevalent among wild ducks and whether it is causing serious mortality.