NEW CATCH DUE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26749, 19 April 1948, Page 2

NEW CATCH DUE

MUTTON BIRD SUPPLIES INCREASED PRICE SOUGHT The average catch of mutton birds for this season should be 1800 a person, thus bringing 247,000 birds to Bluff. This is the opinion of Mr T. West, sen., chairman of the Muttonbirders’ Committee. “The muttonbirders will soon be returning from the islands with their catch of new season’s birds and perhaps some explanation of the position would not be out of place,” he stated in an interview. “In view of the rising costs of transport, stores, equipment, etc., the fixed price of mutton birds—ls 6d a bird—is insufficient return for the labour and trouble connected with catching the birds and preparing them for the market. "Although the season does not start until April 1, there is a vast amount of preparation before the birders go to the islands. Kits have to be made, bark or dried flax to be gathered, kelp to be cut, dried and packed away, and barrels have to be washed and headed up. When we arrive at the islands wood has to be cut and carried to camp, and houses repaired or built. “In the early part of the season the birds are taken from the burrows and in the latter part they are caught at nights with lights. Each bird has to be plucked, scalded, down rubbed off and hung to cool. Then they are gutted, salted and packed in barrels for three or four days, then repacked in kits. They are then ready to be conveyed back to Bluff. “The cost of going to the islands at present is quite expensive. Costs of materials for building new houses and carrying out repairs is heavy. Special clothes, such' as overalls, gloves and boots suitable for the work, have to be procured and lights replaced. The fares have risen from £lO to £l4 10s, which has added to the general cost of the trip, and quite a number of older birders go to the islands each year for sentimental reasons. . “ Last season the prices of birds varied from Is 6d to Is 9d a bird,” said Mr West, “and a number of the birders pledged birds for stores and fares at Is 6d. Purchasers who bought at the ship’s side offered Is 9d to procure birds as the supply was limited. The price had been previously fixed at Is 6d ship’s side, but the birders maintain that prices should be fixed by demand. No one could refuse Is 9d, and as the price charged in the North Island is as high as 2s 3d, we consider this to be a fair price.”