TROUT POISONED.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18659, 7 April 1926, Page 8

TROUT POISONED.

AN UNKNOWN CAUSE.

DEAD FISH IN SHOALS. Dead and dying from some unknown cause, hundreds of trout floated down the Avon yesterday afternoon, too weak to fight against the current. The matter was reported to Mr D. Hope, curator to the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society, early in the afternoon, and by three o'clock all the fish seemed to be either stunned or dead. Mr Hope found that the trouble originated near the West Armagh street bridge. Above this point the trout did not appear to havo been cleared out.

The fish camo down in shoals, turning over and over in the water, some floating ,belly upwards, and others upright, with their heads out of the water, gasping. Crowds soon collected, and numbers of the trout were raked out. Council officials put some in a fresh water fountain, but they did not revive.

Four of the fish were sent up to the Government Analyst at Wellington last evening by Dr. T. Fletcher Telford, Medical Officer of Health, and these will be examined in order to ascertain the noxious element that was present in the river. »

A similar case of poisoning occurred three years ago, and at that time there were several theories brought forward. One was that the rain water might have carried tar into the river, and another was that there may have been an effluent from .the Christ's College baths when they were cleaned out, possibly with a disinfectant. The poisoning of the fish on that occasion began from the Armagh street bridge, or / thereabouts, and the other conditions were almost exactly the same. The matter was referred last evening to the Rev. E. C. Crosse, headmaster of Christ's College, but he refused to make any statement in the matter. Mr Edgar Stead, president of the Acclimatisation Society, said that a sample of the water had been taken, and he hoped that it would show the cause of the poisoning. A certain amount of a disinfectant, such as creosote, formalin, or copper sulphate, would contaminato the water for a certain number of yards, and a sample of tho water taken behind this would not show anything, although the poison would do its damage right down the river. He did not think that the examination of the fish would show anything, unless there was some deposit on the gills, such' as would be caused by chloride of lime. "It was proved in the previous case," said Mr Stead, "that the rainwater had nothing to do with the trouble, and tho only thing that saved Christ's Collego last time was the fact that no analysis was made of tho water." The president stated that the loss sustained by the Society of several hundred fish would not be great, so long as the. trout food had not been contaminated. If the food had been affected it would be a very serious matter. He said that the Society would pursue the matter until it was investigated. CLEAN RIVERS. DRAINAGE BOARD'S NEW BY-LAW. It is very generally admitted that in the past too much freedom has been | allowed all and sundry to. use the City's rivers for tho disposal of rubbish of all descriptions. . The Drainage Board's By-laws Committee, when revising the Board's By-law No. 1, had this in mind, and included in the revised by-law the following provision : VXXL—Natural .watercourses and open drains. No person shall sweep, rake, place, or throw any dust, earth, rubbish, or any matter, or anything which will create a nuisance, or cause an obstruction, into any open drain, or natural waterway controlled by and under the jurisdiction of the Board." 1 The City's rivers, the the Heathcote, and their tributaries are natural watercourses controlled by and under the jurisdiction of the Drainage Beard. The section in the revised by-law dealing .with penalties provides for a penalty "not exceeding £5," for any* breach of any provision of the by-law.