WAIMATE WAIHAO RESERVE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21304, 25 March 1939, Page 3

WAIMATE WAIHAO RESERVE

Question of Access Deputation to County Council A deputation from the Waimate j Acclimatisation Society is to wait on the Waimate County Council on Monday to request that access be provided to the reserve at the mouth of the Waihao River. For many years access has been by a private road through the property of Mr P. Byrnes, Willowbridge, which was recently closed. The members of the deputation, Messrs S. Cox (president) and J. C. Winning (secretary) were appointed at a meeting of the society on Thursday evening. Also present were Messrs N. Mines, J. Tiffen, F. Pollock, W. Paterson. G. Kilworth, G. S. Foord, A. U. Higgins, F. Nash and C. Coventry. The ranger (Mr W. Cottee) reported that during the last month stranded fish had been removed from the Waihao River. The Department of Internal Affairs forwarded notification of the game season, which will be from May 6 to June 30. No alteration, it was pointed out, had been made to the bag limit, and the license fee would be 10/-, the same as last year. The Under-Secretary of the Depart- i ment (Mr J. W. Heenan) wrote advising that the new shooting regulations in force this year prohibited the decoying of game by means of corn placed near the margin of any river. Mr A. E. Hefford, Chief Inspector of Fisheries, wrote asking the society to collect outstanding specimens of various kinds of fish for the Centennial Exhibition. The meeting decided to welcome any fish of outstanding merit sent in by anglers. Fish sent in alive would be kept in ponds until they were required and dead fish would be preserved in a freezer. Terns and Gulls A copy of the reply from the Marine Department to a request from the Southland Society for permission to take protected terns and gulls for investigation of the food content of their stomachs was received. The reply stated that the request had been forwarded to the Department of Internal Affairs, whose sanction was necessary before permission could be given. The chairman stated that a similar request had been forwarded by the Waimate Society to the last meeting of the South Island Council. The meeting decided to appoint additional rangers for the opening of the shooting season. A report that shooting had occurred near Lake Wainono recently was considered, and the Society decided to appeal to sportsmen to refrain from shooting near the lake before the opening of the shooting season.