Whitebait is Worth While

Stratford Evening Post, Volume II, Issue 90, 9 November 1932, Page 6

Whitebait is Worth While

1 Tile total amount ot wmteoau. caught last year (states the annual 1 report of the Fisheries Department) i was, according to returns submitted i by local inspectors of fisheries, 2941 ) cwt (approximately), of an average j wholesale value of 2s per lb, or about J £ll per cwt, so that the total value j could not be less than £112,000 Dur. I ing the year G6,38(i1b of canned whilebait was exported, valued for Cus. Items purposes at £7)59. “The white, bait fisheries as a whole though varying considerably from year to year owing to natural causes, have undoubtedly shown a general decline I in every succeeding decade since the earlier years of settlement,” states tlie chief inspector of fisheries (Mr C. A. Hefford). “Overfishing, drainage, cultivation and stocking of lands and’ the depredations of such intro, duced fish as trout have each in some degree contributed to this reduction, and there is urgent need, before it is too late, to throw light on the extent ami significance of each of these factors. The discovery of the peculiar circumstances connected with spawning of the species has already Provided a solution to one problem of first importance. This knowledge should be acted upon ami measures taken not only for the protection of known, spawning grounds, but also for the restoration or creation of other grounds where conditions arc j naturally suitable.’’