STRIPPING OPERATIONS

Timaru Herald, Volume CI, Issue 15393, 9 July 1914, Page 8

STRIPPING OPERATIONS

OPIHI IIIVEII To tlio Editor th? :i Timaru Herald."' Sir.—At the instance of a number of angling enthusiasts, 1 venture to bring before the notice »1 the anglers of south Canterbury. and more particularly before the nodec of tiie members of -the Acciur.at.sution Society. a matter that is of considerable moment ,10 all concerned. To nie it is surprising' how very I'wv anglers have availed themselves of the opportunity to run out and inspect the stripping operations of the Fisheries Department at tlie Opihi River, the more so. b?causc the work is of absorbing interest, to tiie '•nthtu'iast. and splendidly carried out by the Department's officials, within certain limitations. Now. how many of our angling friends realise that for an average period of nine weeks oacji winter both Mio Opihi and Temuka rivers, at points immediately above their junction, are so fenced and netted across that no 'ish ol ov:*r one pound in weight can nays to the.'r natural spawning ' beds., but are trapped and conveyed to the Department's holding nandsp As the mifnber of ova obtained annually amounts to anytliinnfrom (-30.000 to 1,000,000 such a continued drain upon tlic- resources of the rivers mentioned must be tremendous. The writer is perfectly 'aware that under averag-. normal conditions only from 2 to '-j per cent, of the ova spawned reaches maturity—one leading authority places it At 3 to 7 per cent. — but I would point out that the rivers mentioned are probably the best spawning, streams in the Dominion, and the percentage would naturally be fairly high. Taking it. however, at 4 per cent, it would mean that over a period of ten years mir rivers have lost some 300.000 to 403,030. taxable fish, and to that total must of course be the proportion of the annual spawnings of the fish so lost, on the same principle as compound interest. The loss to .South Canterbury streams therefore becomes very, great, and wonkl fully account for the understocking of such streams as .the Opuha, Tc Ngawai. Kakahii. and Upper Opihi. which are. not carrying one-tenth of their capacity.

So much for the question of loss of | nrh. lint- there arc other matters tint! need remedying. The stripping- operations were thb year (as usual)• conduct-i ed on the edge or a 'small creek (some seventy yard-' ' distant from the Tenuika- river. where the Department's holding pr-n'ds aro located. and in which were kept the stock of jack and ma-airing female fish of upwards cf 1000 to 1500''at any one time. Now the trap nets in the two rivers mentioned, and where anything up to 100 fish ranging from one to 'twenty pounds are nightly secured, are quite open aid unguarded, and not viVted until -about 7.30 each morning when the night's take is transferred to the holding ponds, which remain unprotected during a portion of tho majority of days each week, and which are perfectly open to the passsr-by. Again the creek in which the spawned fish are liberated meanders sluggishly ilown for some mile and a quarter below the holding ponds in a- series of brackish pools, very shallow r.poies, and water cress b"ds. when by the cutting of a trench thirty-seven yards in length, some 150 yards be'ow tho ponds, cr .by t'h© CF.rry.ng of the cans over that distance the fish could be liberated in the Temuka- proper, and so given a. efear access to the sea. The writer would be one of the first to acknowledge that the Department .is do : ng magnificent work throughout, ithe i>ominion, but the matters mentkmed urgently require remedying, and an endea-rmr si onld bo niado...to obta : n a- return: of 50,000 to 100,000 fry annually in compensation for the loss that results to our streams. The number of anglers is annua,Uy increasing, "wornrng." and 1 other methods of obtaining large | baskets seem annually to get an increased number of devotees, so that unless vigorous steps are taken to conserve, the fish already in the streams, and increase the number by restocking, then tho outlook for the South' Canterbury angler is not as happy as in the past, when wo have enjoyed as good sport as little New Zea'and can uroduce. —I am etc., E.P.Y.