TAUPO TROUT

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17239, 21 April 1930, Page 12

TAUPO TROUT

DETERIORATION OF FISH ANGLER’S OBSERVATIONS K.\ ('ESS i VE TROLLIX(! X()TJCEO. lul’ormalinti regarding the deterioration in both l lie quantity and i|iialily of limit in I,aim 'taupo. ami suggestion fur tile iniproveriieiil of the eomJitiou

of the fisi i, were received iiy t lies Hawke’s Hay Acclimatisation Society This week, in a letter from Mr. I’. Went wort it. a prominent English angler who Inis just, completed a visit in New Zealand. "M v lirni her and I first, visited New Zealand for fishing in 1924," lie slated. "MV fished lor trout at Tokaann. and in 14 days we caught about 'J2O lrout. averaging nearly 10ib. The fish were feeding principally on frogs,

hollies, and whitebaits, tali of which were exceedingly plentiful. "I visited New Zealand again in .'lan miry, 1926, when we fished at Taupo. tlie Delta- Oaitip, and the River t 'amp. "At (he sou!!i of llie Waihora on the

western side of Iho lake the. fish showed distinct signs of deterioration in condition. At tlie month of the YVaiia.I'aimi the fish were in good to fair eono'it ion. I mil iced I lien for Die lirsl I imr Iha I I lolling! on i lie lake was ear ried out lo a .large- exteul. Calelies of

fish were exlremely iiiiiiiermis. as many as 16 or 17 in one boat being I lien quite common. CRAY KISH BECOMING .SCARCE. ■ "I relumed lo Taupo that year in April, and found the. fish scarce, and hard to catch. Many of them were, in a poor condition. I was informed licit the native crayfish were beginning to become scarce, and that the , fish had begun to spawn jitter than previously. I was also then informed that the Maoris caught large quantities of whitebait in the Tongaviro River, and that they also netted the bullies. I also heard licit thoy were ’permitted to catch the crayfish in the lake. Tito average weight of the fish I caught it) the season of 1926 did not exceed 6Mb.

FOOD TOO SCARCE. "I visited New Zealand for the third lime this year, and finished at both Taupo and Tokaanu. in eight days at the T;iUjio end we caught about 45 |is 1 1 all fold, exclusive ol ‘slat's. Among the latler I noticed, for the j j it. tine', a- deterioration of young fish. We found the lish in only a moderate condition. We caught only two perfectly conditioned lish. The food supplv seemed too scarce. We saw no hura id all. and very Jew bullies at liotongaio. Me noticed, for ine first (inn', that tin fish seemed Lo be feeding nn a. small species oi shellfish resembling a. snail.” After fishing as far round as Whanganiii, Mr. YVcnl worth fished lor J 4 (lays at. Della Camp. Hero the fish were far more-plentiful and in a, much heller condition, and there seemed to be qua util ics of bullies for food. I'RKSENCE UK iS.Yf.ALL FISH. The presence of a. number of small fish, between lib. and 31b. was noticed for the first time in the shallow water at. ’Taupo. and also at the. Delta- ( amp. A number of these were caught and returned to the water. At. the Delta Camp a large number of young “slabby” fish were also laiigbt. Maoris were noticed uniting bullies and whitebait, and the visitors were, informed that the practice was common. "Trolling at, both ends of the lake was, in our opinion, carried to excess, slated Mr. YVentworlh. “We saw boats trolling long after dark, and we were informed that numbers of boats were accustomed to trolling all night, and that some, of them started at 2

“The li.Mt on each successive visit seemed to be in considerably diminishing quantities, as well as smaller in size. If the falling off in weight and quality df the fish should continue. J think I lie Fisheries Department will he confronted with a very serious problem. 1 think the deterioration in weight and number is principally due to the scarcity of food in the lake. SHOFLD RE CONTROLLED.

Mr. Wentworth advocated' the eon - (ml df the amount of trolling done on the lake, and suggested limiting the hours for the practice, making a limit of 10 fish for each boat, and not a limit of 15 for elicit person. “I think steps should he taken immediately to improve the food supply of (lie fish.” lie said. ”1 strongly recommend that the Maoris he prevented, if possible, from interfering with the food supply of tlie fish, by netting or otherwise.

“Every possible step should ho urgently'’ taken to prevent this national asset from deteriorating any further. The advertisement which New Zealand lias obtained overeas from the splendid (rout fishing which was had in the past, cannot be estimated.”

The society decided to request the Government to appoint a. man with scion!die training to be stationed at Taupo.