The Wanganui Chronicle. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1945. NEW ZEALAND’S FISHING INDUSTRY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 227, 25 September 1945, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1945. NEW ZEALAND’S FISHING INDUSTRY

'TIIE difficulties which confront returned soldiers in becoming established iu civilian occupations are now being brought home to those immediately concerned and also to those who desire to help them. One of the characteristics of many of the returned men is that they desire more than anything else to become their own masters. This is a natural reaction from a life of regimentation, but with many it is only a temporary phase. Yet the percentage of returned men who will find it difficult to pursue their own line of action will probably prove to be a high one. Adventurous youth enlisted early for the conflict in Europe. The process of specialisation of function goes on in all. walks of human endeavour, and as a result it becomes increasingly difficult for the strong individualist to find a field in which his initiative can find free play. He is prepared Io take risks; what he desires is an opening. Unfortunately, openings are becoming scarcer save for those who have access to capital. It would be the wise national policy to take steps to preserve where possible fields for exploitation by men of small means. From time immemorial tlie fishing industry has provided openings for the! adventurous individualist. To-day the chances of that field are becoming smaller.

Fishing is now conducted by the power trawlers, the Danish Seine netters and the line fishermen. The three together are seemingly reducing the quantity of fish which can be taken in New Zealand waters. Some conservation policy seems to be called for, in the interests of the public which desires to obtain a good supply of cheap fish; in the interests of the fishing industry which desires to obtain a large catch throughout the year in order that the industry may be conducted on a profitable basis; and in the interests of the small line fishermen who arc important as sailors in time of war. These interests are not easily to be reconciled. The first consideration in dealing with the sea-fishing industry is to conserve the fish-supply. If that is impaired the industry and the public must suffer. To ensure conservation two main elements must be kept in view: the food supply 'of the fish and the opportunity of the fish to spawn under satisfactory conditions. The herring industry in the North Sea has been continued for decades, the Dogger Bank and other feeding grounds seemingly being sufficient to attract large quantities of fish. The capacity of fish to spawn ensures the reproduction of large quantities of the species provided the spawn is not destroyed by natural or artificial agencies before hatching out has been completed. The danger appears, from a report prepared by the Auckland Junior Chamber of Commerce, to lie in the destruction of fish through the trawling of the breeding grounds inside the Ilauraki Gulf, through the using of seine nets during the period when fish are small, and by the inability of the authorities to prevent poaching. The Continental shelf on which New Zealand rests is broader on the west than it is on the east coast, and the Auckland Junior Chamber is of the opinion that more should be done to encourage the fishing of the grounds on the west coast. The natural tendency for a fishing fleet is to establish itself on a lee shore, and as the west eoast is a weather shore there are some obvious handicaps in the way of developments on the west coast. Nevertheless Wanganui is the centre of a fairly wide area which should offer some prospects for fishing activities, particularly for the smaller men. There has, however, apparently been little done in the way of surveying the fishing grounds in the waters adjacent to Wanganui, and that seems to be'the first requisite for the development of the line fishers on this coast. The possibilities of trawling might also be explored. The good work done by the Auckland Junior Chamber of Commerce might inspire the Wanganui Junior Chamber to undertake a similar investigation in respect to possibilities of fishing on the west coast. The Fisheries Department is at the moment operating under wartime difficulties, but that Department would be encouraged to launch its activities in the Wanganui coastal district when such is possible if it knew that there was a lively body of the public interested in the subject. Tn this work the Returned Services’ Association might, for the sake of its members, co-operate with the Junior Chamber. Here is some constructive work which calls for willing workers. It is to be hoped that they will be forthcoming.