OUE FISH SUPPLY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 7652, 27 August 1886, Page 4

OUE FISH SUPPLY.

A VISIT TO THE WAIWERA PONDS.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

The Otago Acclimatisation Society's piscatory ponds at Waiwera are situate on Marshall's ■creek, a distance of 1J mile from Clinton, and near the Waiwera river. The ground, consisting of 43 acres, was selected and purchased from the N.Z. Loan and Mercantile Agency Co. some eight years ago, its natural adaptability having recommended it to the society so far uack as that. Until within the last 9 or 10 months, however, nothing was done in the way of fishbreeding, but since that time the grouud lias been fenced, and a large area in the front of the pon,ls tastefully laid out and planted .vith a variety of shrubs and trees, consisting of wattle, holly, cedar, gum, &c, &c. In the eye of the early sun, and uu au elevated position, is built a pretty cottage of five rooms, with couservatury, washhouse, &c., occupitd by the gentleman in charge, Mr Burt. Its front windows eomiuMid au exm-llent view of the Waiwtra and Kuriwao rivers (no doubt the recommending feature of the position) as well as about 15 square miles ot surrounding country, and the aide windows command a view of the breeding ponds, so that Air Burt has at all times an eye over his varied charge. The main race which supplies the fish ponds, is, of course, takeu from Marshall's crrck, which has, even in the driest time, an abundant supply. The race—24 chains long, 3ft Wide, and 2ft Bin deep—is fed through a large pipe so ingeniously constructed as to prevent the entrance of leaves, sediment, or debris. In the main lace, several chains above the ponds, is a sluice for regulating the supply of water. At this puint the race is about 45ft higher than Mai>hall's creek, so that there is no danger of floods at any time. Th, uppermost pond is 136 ft long, 13ft wide and 6ft in depth. This is occupied by 240 beautiful Loch Leven trout, varying ai length from 9in to 14in, hatched from ihe first fish of the kind bred in the colony. They are fed daily, and have every appearance of being in splendid condition. To watch these little fellows rising nimbly to secure the little bits of minced meat thrown to them is a most interesting amusement. Their eagerness appt-ars at first sight to afford an excellent opportunity for poachers, but as every precaution has been taken in the construction of the ponds to prevent netting, and the ranger is known to be wide awake, any such attempt would most likely end in discomfiture. At the head of the pond is a space covered withsaud. As the fish leave th* main body of water and instinctively go up to the head to the shallow portion to spawn, there is a coutrivance by which their return is shut off. They are then taken out and stripped. After passing from this pond we proceed to the hatching house—a spacious plain wooden building, well ventilated, containing 21 hatching boxes, in the greater number of which are the ova of common trout. There were at the time of our visit 26,000 of these ova. Since then Mr Burt has taken a trip to the lakes, where he has ob-tainr-d an additional 150,000 brown trout ova. Mr Burt exhibits the ova in all the different stages, and gives quite an interesting account, from the development of ova to the maturity of fish. The water supply to the batching house is received from a branch race, after passing through a tube and filter of seven plies of flannel; so that it will be seen that every precaution is taken to secure pure water.

The second pond is/-10ft long, Oft wide, with a depth of 2ft, and is used for classing the fish. The third, or salmon pond, is 10'Jft ..long and 10ft in width. This is occupied by 36,000 real salmon from sin to 7iu long. Here, as at the Loch Leven trout pond, Mr Burfc threw in some iniuced meat, and salmon in hundreds jumped and tumbled over each other in their eagerness to secure the morsels. To gratify our curiosity and enable us to secure a good look at the finny beauties, Mr Burt drew out with a small net about 30, to be returned again after inspection. These fish the society intend to liberate shortly, when in an incredibly short space of time thi-y will find their way to sea, to return again, it is to be hoped, to our streams and rivers. Near the salmon pond is the stock pond, 130 ft long by 12ft iii width, with a depth of 6ft. Here are about 40 trout, averaging from 101b downwards, kept fur breeding purposes. Macrocai pas are planted between the various ponds to afford shade and shelter. The general arrangement and the manner in which it has been carried out is a credit to all concerned. As is well known, Mr Burt is an enthusiast in the cause, and while the Acclimatisation Society may be satisfied at securing bis services, it is equally satisfactory to find Mr Burt .pleased at the treatment he has received at their hands. He has quite a museum of the trophies he has captured from illegal fishers, made up of formidable spears, gaffs, hooks, &c. That the residents in the Clinton district take a keen interest in fishing matters is shown by the fact that 100 licenses were taken out by anglers last year. To anyone who takes an interest in pisciculture, a visit to the Waiwera ponds cau be strongly recommended. If Mr Burt is at home 'he will be always found ready to impart a large store of the iv formation which he has accumulated regarding fish and fish culture.

ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY'S MEETING.

A meeting of this society was held yesterday, and attended by Messrs Maitlund (chairman), Begir, Sinclair, Chisholm, Carltoii, Thomson, P. 0. Neill, Campbell, Dauseu, C. Smith, Deans, Stoddart, and Wilkie. It was resolved to make a number of recommendations to the Government regarding the regulations, of which the following are the most important:—That the season for fishing trout be from October 1 till Easter Monday, inclusive; but in the case of Easter Monday falling later than April 14 tha season be the same as

formerly, ami the hours for foiling to be from 4 am. to 10 p.m.; also, that it be legal to fish on Sundays. Mr Bhgg intimated that 451 licenses for fishing had been taken out last and this year he believed there would be 50 or 60 more than that number.

The question of the destruction of fish by shags was considered. It was stated that the shags were especially destructive in the Lee stream, and also that the fish had been greatly thinned there by eels and want of food. Last year 600 shags had been destroyed, for which the society paid at the rate of a shilling per head. Nothing definite was resolved regarding the matter.

Mr G. M. Mabsuaix, secretary to the Angiers' Association, wrote regarding the competition for the gold meilal, suggesting two competitions instead of one. It was agreed to hiive two competitions, one in the Waipahi and the other iv the Pomabtika river.

A letter was received from a resident at Roxburgh stating that a miner there was in the habit of partly shutting off the water in liis race and then running large numbers of trout into a small dam for his own use when lie wanted them. It was resolved to communicate with the writer.

Messrs Henry Roseveare and Simon Corbett were appointed rangers for the Waiwera river, and Mr J. Jordan for the Shag river.

Mr Deans reported that he had not been so successful in collecting trout ova this year as last. There were at present 171,000 ova in the hatching boxes at. Opoho, of which 122,000 had been obtained from Fulton's creek and 49.000 from Lovel's creek. The Water of Leith had been a total failure as regards collecting ova, but he had reason to believe that a good many fish had been spawning in it. For some time past the river had either been too hi«h or too dirty to enable them to secure the fish. At Clinton the rivers were also iv such a flooded state that it was almost impossible to collect ova; but Ranger Burt had secured 26,000 from the Wairuna, and through the kindness of the Queenstown society he had obtained there some 60,000 or 70,000 more, so that there were about 90,000 in the ponds. The 4000 brook trout ova obtained had nearly all hatched out, and the fish weie very strong and healthy. The English salmon since they were transferred to th« races, had not been doing quite so well. This was probably owing to the low temperature of the water, which had recently been very low smne'timeti as low as 30 leg in the afternoon. He had not kept a record of th.i dead, but out of 12 950 probably from 1000 to 2000 had .succumbed durine the winter. Mr Deans, who was in attendance, said lhat the fish seemed to suffer from a sort of funguid ■disease. Report received.

—The infant King of Spain enjoys the almost unique distinction of having heen born a monarch. There is no other like instance in the history of Spain nor of England. In France thers has been one such incident, in the ense of John 1., in 1316,

ISISiiJSCHOOL INSPECTIOjN£T_ " "*]

TO THE EDITOP.J J, l§^tS"v'il"l-<i"S v}|Stb, —For the information of the " Country School Committeeman of 18 Years' Standing," I . nelose herewith a copy of the circular which is issued from the board's office to each committee re inspectors' visit and examination, and which 1 shall ha pleased if you will kindly publish.—l am, &c,

M. Frakh, Chairman Otago Educational Board, Lawrence, August 24. 1886.

The circular is as fwlWws: — Education office, Dunedin, 188 . Sir,—l beg to inform your commmitlee that I intend to examine Hie public school on of I shall be glad to see representatives of ihe committee present during the examination, and thereafter to discuss with them any matters that they may aesire to bring under my notice.—l am, &c,

Inspector ofJSchools. The Clerk School Committee.