FISH IN THE WANGAEHU

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 258, 1 November 1939, Page 8

FISH IN THE WANGAEHU

LESS SULPHUR THAN YEAR AGO WHITEBAIT AND TROUT In the olden days the Wangaehu j River was noted for its sulphur con- i lent. It was so strong that fish could | not live in the water. In more recent i years, however, there has been less sulphur coming down and more fish have been caught in a river which was I once almost free of them. In an interview last night Mr. 11. ! J. Duigan, of the Wanganui Accli- i matisation Society, said that he be- 1 lieved that the Wangaehu was showing less signs of sulphur than it did I years ago, but there were times when the water did become very much im- 1 pregnated with it and trout and white- i bait had been stupefied and killed. The j Maoris at Kauangaroa were always on i the alert for stupefied fish. Sulphur springs on the slopes of 1 Mt. Ruapehu which trend down to- i wards Karioi, have fed the Wangaehu ; River ever since it has been a river. Ancient Maori history recalls that, fish had not been known in those waters in the early /lays and there is an appropriate legend to fit their absence. Trout, liberated in streams which become tributaries of the Wangaehu, notably the Mangawhero, find their way into the lower waters where they thrive until the sulphur springs become active. In season whitebait arc plentiful in the Wangaehu below the road and railway bridges, but sulphur also affects their presence. When fully charged with sulphur the waters of the Wangaehu turn pale blue, much like the colour of sulphur flame, and in the summer season Ihe river is very pretty as it foams over steep places in the hoi sun and swells out into pale blue in the more placid reaches.