THE POACHER’S GUILT

Taranaki Daily News, 10 May 1930, Page 17 (Supplement)

THE POACHER’S GUILT

INESTIMABLE DAMAGE

(By

C.M.H.)

From the days of the Garden of Eden poaching has .been in vogue. When Eye stole the apple from the forbidden tree it was an act of poaching. And so right down through the ages we read of emperors and kings who, with their armies to back them, went on vast military expeditions and. poached from weaker nations lands, wealth, art' treasures and slaves. ' The characteristic has persisted down' to the present day and even in a splendid, young country like New Zealand wo have the poaching spirit fairly 'strongly'developed. Particularly is this the case respecting the poaching of game birds_ from sanctuaries and farms, and tlie illegal i taking of trout from our streams. Every year acclimatisation societies spend ■ practically, all their ‘ revenue in liberating pheasants and trout, but each season complaints become more persistent of the ravages of the. poacher. As far as trout are concerned the operations of the poacher are so severe that it is becoming well-nigh useless to stock many of the waters, unless a way can be. found to put an end to the sweeping manner in which' the poachers are operating. In the autumn of the year dur smaller streams, which at normal height' are ideal brown trout waters, dwindle in volume until they become almost mere trickles. The only sanctuary the trout have is in the pools, but it is here that danger to their continued existence is''menaced in a very cowardly and dastardly manner. Along come the poachers at night time • and each pool is either searched with a bright light and the trout speared or struck with an iron weapon, or efee a plug of explosive is dropped into the waters. This latter method effects a clearance of practically all life in the pool. Trout in the fry and yearling stage as well as those of larger dimensions are ruthlessly destroyed. Even the eels that lie under thereover of boulders at the bottom of the stream are oftentimes affected and may be found in a dying or dead condition after the poacher has paid the river a visit.. When trout or eels are not killed by an explosion they invariably linger and die, as the shock, it ia’affirmed, bursts the air sac that is found within the bodies of all fish. Thia wanton cruelty does not come into the consideration of the poacher. It ..is doubtful indeed whether he is aware of it. So long as he can illegally secure trout he is content no matter how ruthless- his method.

In the fall of the year the trout of two years and over give large quantities of eggs and so help to keep the species from becoming extinct in our streams. During the months of June and July and sometimes in May, the spawning takes place, mostly .in the upper reaches of the streams. Prior to this spawning these future parent trout love to find sanctuary in the pool waters, 'where they retreat until the eggs are ripe. The poacher arrives and when he blows up the pool he destroys not only the parent fish but also many thousands of .eggs that would otherwise hatch out during the early spring months; A female trout of two pounds weight will give up to 1809 eggs, and for each pound weight in addition the supply is augmented by about 800 eggs. To estimate correctly the loss to a stream by the destruction of these parent fish is not practicable, but it is easy to -see that it amounts to many hundreds of thousands of eggs.

The problem is a difficult one for acclimatisation . societies. Various methods have been tried to capture these poachers and bring them to.Jbbok, but with no great measure of success. It is not possible to police .or range allthe waters in a given district with any degree, of satisfaction. Rangers are appointed who do their best to catch poachers but it would need an army to watch adequately even a' tenth of the waters where poaching is- rife. It appears to the writer that tlie solution is in the hands of the anglers and gunmen of each district. On practically all trout rivers there are rodmen living close by, and if the sportsmen within- every five miles of territory were to appoint themselves into committees, the evil practice of poaching could be diminished and perhaps eventually stopped. The acclimatisation societies . would undoubtedly welcome such committees and do all in their power to help the movement. If poachers knew they were being watched they would think twice : before committing their unsportsmenlike misdeeds. Should 0 they come' before the coprtH they* may speedily and regretfully find that the law will not protect them but rather will deal out fines and perhaps imprisonment. During the past three or four months in Taranaki the poacher is reported to have taken very heavy toll of trout from our streams. On ,no lesa than' three different streams the writer found plenty of evidence that showed the poacher had been at work. Heapo of carbide knocked out on the dry stone'sof the riverbed told eloquently that it was here the ppachens had refueled their acetyline Jamps. In the rapids below, young trout ranging from six to eight inches were lying dead at the stream side. On the sandy beach beside a pool was a heap of .trout offal. Investigation with a stick showed that at this spot the fish had been cleaned and no less than fourteen sets of gills were counted.. At the slack end of this pool a splendid specimen of a trout w as. lying dead in the shallows of the stream. Investigation showed- the fish to be a female with at least 3000 eggs inside. The air sac was in a burst condition proving almost conclusively that the trout had been killed in the waters in which it lived by being treated with a charge of explosive. Fortunately -on some streams there are farmers who jealously guard the .trout from- the depredations of the poachers. Anxious to conserve the 'trout and pheasants on their properties 'these owners are ever quietly watching fpr this class of law-breaker. It ift in these localities,. unfortunately, few and far between, that both pheasants and trout have a fighting chance to exist and perpetuate their species. It is to be hoped'that more farmers and. . landowners wltt be persuaded to operate i’u-'a li^e'manner >7 <..’, • '