WHERE DO EELS SPAWN?

Otago Witness, Issue 3882, 7 August 1928, Page 37

WHERE DO EELS SPAWN?

TO THE EDIIOB. Sir,—For years 1 have read in the press articles on the above subject, “ Where do eels spawn? ’ and the following facts may throw some light on the subject:— i if 1 surveying a large block of land for settlement in the Glenkenichlapanui district in- Otago. Th ough a portion of the block flowed the Waikoikoi Stream, a branch of the Pomahaka River lhe source and head of the stream was a large swamp, say from four to five miles long and from a quarter to half a mile wide. I was camped on the banks ot the swamp for months. The upper mile or so of the swamp was covered tn 9ft al tl ?< i mat ve S eta ti°n from Ift t. 2t t t f l ck. underneath being water “ 8f o de ep—a kind of covered and th»ro attered i° Ver thls P orti on here nnrtinn ' ve re clear, stagnant, uncovered portions of water, and when the sun was shining I have seen near the surface in these pools hundreds, maybe thousands, of j oung eels from lin to 3in long swimming about, and undoubtedly these young eels never came from the sea. The idea s ridiculous, the. sea being 50 miles away as the crow flies. 3 contained, of course, thouf l e X S all slzes ,, u P to 3ft and 4ft m length. After a spell of heavy rain the and m ?t W n7X°H Crfl °'\ the adjacent la S throng ‘ the - ee > S ' vould come out through the grass in hundreds, and with a ..table fork lashed on the end of a stick them° U d Spear a car tload if you wanted The swamp years after I was there was drained by a deep channel taken up the centre, as the toll of sheep drowned or bogged was considerable.—l am etc

Palmerston North.

W.D.B. Murray.