Foreign Fish for British

Southland Times, Issue 8095, 25 August 1885, Page 4

Foreign Fish for British

■ ; :MC ?MsiQßim: Daily MaU;) X;> +<■•■■ . .i- --'. Ifriß an pH -Bayinig^that gpo^,may_be^ '^e^OTa^tbroagh? dver-doing ;- : -Jj£ Wen? -?tide« called jnst too oftenj and vieited their| n liwio6'm«o%^oa;ttmgiat^he| cause much mischief, because tboy will ride theirbbbTJiesJ^o^d^' Tbe acclimaj tii^oninthnßiaßtß^itM ttieir zeal^n| "goW intentionsi are in flanger'of 'falling ;fj&tp^tbia ipits jfi^Unatisatipnr-Tpr^Jhe transfer of animals-from one part ol th 4 ; whereth6yib6andib anotherwhicl| ' Ji«'7ii^iei»tjii^lhetf^itfiui'.-geiaeral efeafeif - itiati : '*a "^iy tooi thing^ it be carried -!^ttrthw:t mdmrtiDt- the^ Au^tralianß ar^ biUerly ; TUfeing^the i day'-wJi(Bn. : their-zsal for ? BCcfiiffiaUsation^roughit the rabbit :of the Old World^^irßhbteßV^ The'camel r bf Asia, toQ^whicir vraa to $o such great tiff ship of . Australian deaertrf, iihV'taraedvp'it.'a failure, not-being adapted ■ to his new home ; while-the -imported sparj- ■■-'.' „ ipwißa worse Jjutaen to the New Yprkert r> thwj'^jgr^sfopper'jfe^as designed to ■ i relieverthera^frbm;. jled deor, and "pheae- ~ -%hicn -Beem Ao be .thriving well f >*nough in New Zealand, were • legitiinatb Bubjectß,fpr, impSifeiUon, and may serve to - vary' & diet; of the eettlers. But the fish acclimatieers threaten to bring worsp '-" things upon us. '.•Tha/lakeß and streams of, this country areralreadjr well stocked •lfy^natiiro ' with l : '« • sufficient^ 'variety and quantity o|^inbst eligible and delicious "fish, whether regarded a» objects ' '< ? of t : diet ■? or' sport. * ' But because vpth^r countries; ': : nptably America, Contain -a other species, some of them at- ; P tractive in .eye'ry way, nothigg will content r Vtthe. iacclimatisatibn zealots but that we " must have them too.- Even the importa- ; ■ -tion of grayling from English waters to - - i ffie^iQlyde is gerierdlly admitted to have * been^ mistake,. as-it has partly spoiled the trout fishing, and, moreover^grayling were - not -wanted there. Soothe introduction of 'tha Geneva lake trout into' some of our northern loshs has resulted in producing a hjbrid which is far f?om an improvement upon, eithjer^ of the. present stocks. Another ctfossbred was threatened by the bringing over of- the American bropk " ' 'teoAt.V bat^ r fortanately, HHe expelfimCTit Vlhksrpot; a^yet'.proved successfulj as the '* mlmo \fmtihdliß does Tiot take kindly to *Britiß>' waters. -More, however, is to come; Piscatorial land piscicultural enihußiaßtß are advocating the claims of ;iblack ha6H. cat-fish, both yellow and blue, Canadian" white fish, and other scaly, species, to swim in British waters. No' doubt the Thameß and other rivers may be ■'-'"'eiceHehtly adapted to black bas3, and so he <may find it ; : but the chances are that' if he once get established therein, he will r - behave tO'all-itß native finnyinhabitants as the Norway rat did to the native breed of sinii'ar rodents ; A and the' cat-fish, sly i eiluris, and the pike perch of tbe Danube, all of which" it has been proposed at various ■' limes to acclimatise amongst us,,haye very healthy appetitea for all other fish in th^ir neighbourhbbd. If' gastronomists mmst have cat-fish, shad,' pompano, black bass, or white fish, let them cross the Atlantic to catch and eat them in their -native waters. The voyage is Bwift and easy '" enough now^a-days, and they can compare the Sebags salmon and other American ya- • rietieß of the saimb genus with a genuine Tay or Severn fish. Honest travellers toll us that they are at best no more than indifferent. V^hy then seek to let them ■ s loose upon oiir lakes and streams instead of leaving us our old nobility, the lordly 1 salmon, and bis first cousin the trou.t ? It may be true,: as alleged by Sir James- Gibson > Maitland, who has done so much' ior pisciculture ,in fioptland-!— that is, .of the native breeds— thai the' 'fresh, water smelt of America would .thrive admirably in the Highland lochs, and enable the latter to produce a heavier crop of" "fish. But most of them ' • are well, filled enough already/ and hardly need thp intrusion, of foreign curiosities, many of which are water pirates of the tnost dangerous character. Let well alone is a maxim which applies to speculative schemes of this nature; and; as. for the black ba.Bs, ,he deserves especially to be left in his native homel: Canadian whitefisb; again, is very pcellent . in Canada, where it, is a Btapla diet in winter for bolh^ man : iQI dog, -'and it, is highly problematical whether this fißh . would tative. at all in bur warmer lakes. If he does, so much the ' 'Worse. A somewhat cruel series of experiments seems to have been lately tried by the National Fish CaTture Association •* ' : in London — vifc.j what thermo.metrioal degree of hot water ordinary fresh water fi&h ,„» will endnre and yet live? To enhance the -eccentric nature, of the experiment, any fißh that. showed':, signs of- exhaustion Sii v was -dosed with, brandy — an r .operation c. <. :■ which, we are told, proved highly successful, though not alaraye, it being admitted that^ome of -tho delicate fish suocumbed -. r.%6 thia bfandy-and- water treatment ! Such .experiments cannot.eyeo plead the defence «t>it/»Vi 4a snmalimps sflf. nn. fnr vivlßectlnn.