16

H.—ls

The Chairman of the Portobello Fish-hatchery Board to the Minister of Marine. g IBj Ist June, 1909. On behalf of the Board of the Portobello Marine-fish Hatchery, I beg to report as follows on the work of the year ending 31st March, 1909: — Owing to the. limited means at the disposal of the Board, this work has been chiefly confined to looking after the stock of lobsters and crabs in confinement in the ponds, isolating the spawners as their eggs approached the hatching season, liberating the fry as they were hatched, and keeping the station in as good order as possible. The large measure of success attained in connection with the spawning of these crustaceans, full particulars of which are given in the very valuable report (appended herewith) made by Mr. T. Anderton, the Curator, was due to the unremitting care bestowed on them by him. It would appear that failure to secure such good results elsewhere has been almost entirely due to lack of this scrupulous care in keeping the surroundings absolutely clean. Had the Board been able to employ two men at Portobello right through the season, instead of one, the results achieved would have been even much more satisfactory than they have proved. As it is, we estimate that some 36,000 larvae of the lobster and about 6,000,000 of the crab were liberated. Had there been more tank accommodation and more assistance during the critical period of spawning and hatching, the number of larvae obtained from the stock now in the ponds would probably have been between 135,000 and 200,000 lobsters, and between 10,000,000 and 15,000,000 crabs. Under the circumstances the results already achieved are really remarkable, and reflect the highest credit on the Curator. Arrangements have again been made for a further importation of both lobsters and crabs, in order that the success of the experiment may be absolutely assured. The acclimatisation of these valuable Crustacea in our coastal waters will not only supply a most excellent addition to our fish food-supply, but one that will have a great commercial value in years to come. In connection with this further importation of lobsters and crabs, an attempt will be made to introduce haddocks, or some other hardy kind of edible fish from Britain. Mr. Anderton has kept the buildings, fittings, &c, of the station in very good condition, but these all require a complete overhaul to prevent their falling into decay, and the Board cannot do this for lack of funds The expenditure of a comparatively small sum of money now will not only preserve all the property of the station, but will enable it ,to enter on a further period of usefulness. The Board would respectfully point out that on the 31st March the term of five years for which the late Hon. R. J. Seddon granted a subsidy of £250 per annum expired. The Board considers that not only has the station justified its existence, it has done far more : it has added greatly to the wealth and to the knowledge of the Dominion, and this at a ridiculously small cost to the public. The following are some of the results achieved : — (1.) A station has been built comprising (a) a comfortable four-roomed dwellinghouse and outbuildings, fenced garden, planting of valuable trees and shrubs, &c. : (b) a hatchery building, with (i) hatching-house, with hatching-boxes and Macdonald jars capable of dealing at one and the same time with many millions of fish-ova as well as lobsters, crabs, &c, and also furnished with eight large plate-glass-sided exhibition tanks; (ii) laboratory furnished with microscopes, glassware, valuable books, &c. ; (iii) workshop; (iv) oil-engine and pumps : (c) two large ponds concreted on three sides, and one deep lobster-pond concreted all round and on the bottom, and all three furnished with screw valves to control the water-supply : (d) a large excavated concrete-lined tank at high level, holding 17,000 gallons of sea-water, for supplying the hatching-house with a constant supply : («) a long jetty extending into the deep-water channel between the station and Quarantine Island : and (/) a good oil-launch with covered-in cabin, well-found boat, launchingslips, &c. (2.) European lobsters and crabs have been successfully conveyed to these shores from Britain, and are now established and are breeding in the ponds, a feat the importance of which may be estimated from the fact that the United States fish-hatcheries, with all their magnificent appliances, have never yet been able to transport the Atlantic lobster alive to the Pacific coast. (3.) Observations have been made on the spawning, ova, and fry of a number of our native food-fishes—viz., blue-cod, sole, lemon-sole, flounder, brill, gurnard, as well as of pig-fish, kokopuru, crayfish, prawns, " whale-feed " (Grimothea gregaria) (one of the most important of our fish-foods), porcelain crabs, &c. It is only on such observations and such knowledge that fishery legislation can be based, and until this station took up and recorded such our knowledge of the life-histories of these fishes was almost nil. (4.) Many millions of the larva? of sole, lemon-sole, flounder, gurnard, crayfish, and prawn have been reared for a longer or shorter period in the hatching-boxes and Macdonald jars in the hatchery, and turned out in the waters of Otago Harbour. The Board would respectfully point out that no part of Australia, nor of Cape Colony (which has a special Fisheries Department) has been able to do such work; and to arrest this now would be to take a singularly retrograde step in the development of the natural resources of this country. It may also be pointed out that all work of supervision, correspondence, and, indeed, all secretarial work has been carried out by members of the Board as a labour of love, and has not cost the country one penny during all .these years. We trust, therefore, that the scheme suggested in September last may be given effect to, as we feel assured that no money spent in the public service will give a better return. On behalf of the Board, I have, &c, Geo. M. Thomson, Chairman. The Hon, J. A. Millar, Minister of Marine, Wellington.