LOSSES OF TROUT

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21179, 28 October 1938, Page 14

LOSSES OF TROUT

ROTORUA DISTRICT Claims- that many hundreds of wellconditioned trout have, in the last four months, merely provided food for seagulls, hawks, and shags at the mouth of the Waingahae Stream, Rotorua, are made by an Auckland angler. He considers that the remedy is obvious, although it is feared that the situation is past remedy, says “The New Zealand Herald." The angler states that the prominent hill, Pukepotu, on the south-eastern side of the lake marks the headquarters of the Waingahae Stream, which crosses the road to Rotoiti, four and a-half miles from Rotorua. Latterly, the sides of the hill have been stripped of all the vegetation, leaving bare hillsides down which the water cascades after every rain. To the uninitiated the reason is not apparent, unless it is to encourage erosion, for in places, the sides of the hill are so steep that nothing could maintain a footing. Expanse of Sand The stream, which formerly ran between the well-defined banks and which was one of the best spawning beds round the lake, is now an expanse of sand many yards wide. Across this the water trickles only a few Inches deep. It is generally admitted, he says, that the trout fishing is a valuable asset to the district and large sums are spent annually on its upkeep. Yet in the last four months hundreds and hundreds of well-con-ditioned fish have merely provided food for seagulls, hawks, and shags, of which a large colony has lived round the river mouth, killing practically every fish that is attempting to run up the stream and becomes stranded on the shallows. Although it Is the middle of October, the trout are still running and the slaughter goes on. The sportsman adds that it is safe to say that not a single fish that has entered the Waingahae Stream will ever get back to the lake again, for, if any reach the headwaters—which is highly improbable—they will only become food for other enemies.