SHARK FISHING

Otago Witness, Issue 3487, 11 January 1921, Page 24

SHARK FISHING

INTERESTING INDUSTRY IN THE NORTH. (Fbom Oue Own Correspondent.) AUCKLAND, January 5. Shark fishing, which is carried on commercially to a, certain extent at Matakana, on thte eastern coast of the North Auckland Peninsula, has not been so successful there since the season commenced in November as it has been in previous years. Sharks are not so plentiful as they were last year, for although 150 fish have been caught duri-.g recent expeditions it has not been a.n uncommon thing in past years to capture that number in a day. The fish make the warm, shallow waters at Matakana a breeding ground during the summer months, and at this time of the year they should be present in large numbers. The scarcity is attributed to the infrequency of the northwest winds, which usually render the conditions favourable for the advent of the fish into the harbour. The season will last another four weeks. The fishing has developed at Matakana into a fair-sized industry, carried on during the summer by Mr Fred Green, a settler in the district, and on a smaller scale by other farmers. The principal product obtained is oil. extracted from the liver by a boiling process, and utilised commercially in the preparation of paints and as calf feed, in this latter capacity being mixed with skim milk. An interesting by-produot is dried fins, which are exported to China, for the manufacture of gelatine. The flesh is rendered down and converted into fertiliser. It is estimated that a large shark will render three to five gallons of oil. The sharks are usiydly found in the greatest numbers in the shallow waters three br four miles from the mouth of the Matakana. River, and they are caught from I4ft fiat-bottomed punts, which are towed cut. to the grounds by launches. In capturing the fish shark hooks are used on heavy lines, the bait being usually such fish as kahawai, travalii, or large sprats. The smaller sharks, once on the hook, are pulled straight into tno boats, but in tlie case of the more foimidable fish the practice is to haul them close to the side of the boat and there hit them on the snout with a heavy mallet, this being sufficient to weaken them until they can be safely despatched with the knife. When _ very large sharks are hooked the fight is frequently exciting.