TOHEROA DEPLETION

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 231, 1 October 1941, Page 2

TOHEROA DEPLETION

PROBLEM DISCUSSED BY WOMEN STORY OF SHELL-FISH A question of great importance has taken up tlie attention of the Auckland branch of the National Council of Women. It is the problem of toheroa depletion and the matter is beint: taken up with the various societies affiliated with a view to taking immediate action. It was stated at a recent meeting that a canning company took away nine lorry loads of toheroas from Ninety-Mile Beach in one week, and that each kerosene tin held a thousand toheroas. In three months a million toheroas had been taken. If this shell-fish continues to he depleted at such a rate there will soon be none left at all. New Zealand will lose one of her greatest assets and the Maoris an important part of their food, said a speaker, whose remarks were supported by a Maori woman delegate. Some considerable time ago regulations regarding the taking of toheroas were gazetted. A person wishing to take toheroas for sale had to take out a licence, which entitled him

J to take in anv one day not more than - three bushels (six kerosene tins' • measured in the shell. A breach of ; the regulations rendered him liable ■ to a fine of £2O and cancellation of J his licence. Any person could take up to 50 toheroas a day provided they - were for his own consumption. 1 In recent years canning rights were • granted over a long term of years to two commercial enterprises, on the Ninety-Mile Reach and Kaipara • Beach. This large clam-like shellfish found on the west coast of the ■ far north and a few small patches in i other parts of New Zealand, is found nowhere else in the world. The toheroa —which is aptly named, the word i being Maori for long tongue —will shift its home a considerable distance along the beach, large beds being easily discernible to those who possess a practised eye. Small holes in the hard

sand something like the holes whict would be left by prodding the bead i with a pencil-like stick, betray ih< ; hiding place of the shell-fish below the surface, varying from six to tei inches. A wide-pronged fork is usee for digging up the toheroa. or failing this implement, two large shells, or even the hands can be used for removing the sand from both sides ol the vent. Directly they are dug the toheroa' must be placed in tins, not left on the sand, as they have extraordinary powers of quickly burrowing into the sand with their long tongues anr disappearing very quickly. A first experience in toheroa gathering is remembered by the writer. About forty shell-fish had been secured and heaped on a sugar bag on the sand when lhe gatherer moved a few feet down the beach to collect one or two more. Turning back to the original bed a couple of minutes later the heap of toheroas had entirely disappeared. In spite of their large sized shells, about 5 to 7 inches in length they had succeeded in burrowing back in «he hard sand and out of sight. The seagulls are responsible for the loss of many toheroas. They seize every straggler that ventures to the surface, carry their prey aloft and then drop it on the hard beach to smash The brittle shell. Cunning feathered rivals will seize the dainty morsel before the original owner has time to fly back. It has been told that large schnapper swim into the shallows inside the breakers and burrow down in the sand for toheroa. cracking the shells with their powerful jaws. This sounds like a first-class fish yarn, but people who have camped near the beach testify to the truth of this. In spawning time the eggs are deposited above the ordinary high-water mark, the toheroa taking advantage of the high spring tide. The wind blows the eggs further inshore where they lie on th<‘ warm sand until hatched in • bout three weeks’ time. Baby tohe-

roas, looking like a swarm of moths ; with flimsy shells spread like wings, | go back to the sand near the sea. with the help of the wind when it blows I seaward.