FISHING NOTES.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20168, 21 February 1931, Page 6

FISHING NOTES.

QUINNAT IN NEW; ZEALAND.

[KXOIiUSIVIi! TO THB' PRESS.] [By Black Gsat-J

Those Notes, which aro written by n fishermaa of long experience and considerable theoretical knowledge, will appear every Saturday. IMtpra containing news items or questions, and addressed "Blfwjk Gnat," tarn of Ihn Editor of Twb Pbbss, will receive prompt attention each tyoek

When the quinnat salmon was intrpducud into this country pisciculturaliats were hopeful that the day would conio when so great would be the run of fish that canneries would he established, which would not only supply local needs und render the import of tinned lish nnecessary, but which also would provide a considerable surplus for export. There pcexna little doubt, however, that the. salmon will not further increase in numbers,

Three important factors control the productivity of New Zealand snlimm rivets. First, so regular and severe is the Hooding of the Canterbury snow rivers—the only rivers in this country in which the quinnat has been satisfactorily established—tlmt spawning redds hiust be ureatly interfered with, thus considerably reducing the percentage of ova which , ould hatch. Second, there is the question of feeding grounds both lor parr and adult fish. Obvipusly a' givou quantity of water' can produce only a certain weight of hsh, and large shingle rivers with con-stantly-inoviug beds are far from ideal for the growth of fry and smolts. Ho sudden, too, is the drop of! tho New Zealand coast that -there .is only a very limited area of suitable coastal feeding ground for adult fish. 11l this area the salmon has its eueiyies, for a largo proportion of tho salmon captured bear scars and flesh wouutls \The third limiting factor is watur temperature and this affects distribution rathei than numbers in any locality The Tasmnn, off the Westland const, is several degrees warmer than the I'acific on Jht* Canterbury coast, and this is probably the reason for the fact that although over 3,000,000 ova have been planted in the HiplutiUa River, no adult salmon have yet been taken when returning to the river. The theory was advanced in the Marine Department's Report on Fisheries for tho year ending March 81st, 1929, that the range of quinnat salinotf In New Zealand is determined bv the limits of the Antarctic drift, fbis drift works un the south-east coast of the South Island toward* Cook strait, where it meet? tho South Equatorial drift, which cometf down the east coast 'oi the North Island, thus making th& water in the Strait wanner than the water of! the Canterbury i ponst. This would account for the poor resu]t that has attended the j efforts of tho Marine Department to stock the Wairan River

It is a matter ol regret that nn hydrographical survey* of New Zealand was noi made years ago. tor bad this been done a dead loss of about ten million salmon fry, need never have occurred and these young fish could have been liberated in a suitable habitat instead of »U waters where they never had a chance to live. In any case, now that the futility of liberating salmon In such places as Westland has been realised,. U'iu to be bopod th at a sufficient nqmper of young salrjjjOn will be turned into Canterbury streams to offset the number captured each seofian.

There can- be little, doubt tliut the introduction of Balmou into SoutU foland snow rivers has been largely responsible for the reduction of the nuiubors of trout. In support of this it can be urged that the trout fishing was good until the salmon were established and that, as year by year tho salmon-fishing became better, the trout fishing, beanie pwgrewweiy worse. Jt!ursher it is pbrfou* that vphat triut . ara left hayp to, cowjete, wfeon youpg flit with olthousands of yoijng BalmflU,. - There wertf twenty to thirty apgiers hqsy at the- HaUaia mou|h weekend, but very f«w .saimon tendedFish, howevpr, could, riping freely in the'"aut." Salmon have also, been seen higher up the river. For the benefit of salmon fisbtfTß at the llakaia a boatman will be in attendance, night and rooming una all dftv on Sunday to ferry paopV aorop to Spit. , ' * '* , - A. small run of quinnat; plage dicing a iu the rW a few weeks back, and ,#in« then several bags have been as far up as. Courtenay. A fine fish of 311b was captured during the week near the mouth. * * ' i 11 Tliqra haye been fewer sspejptipnalty large brown trout taken this season than in others, -A brown trout ot 1731b, however," was. taken in Lake Coleridge recently. Its capture was a noteworthy performance, as it was taken on a wet fly with f* light rod m the day "ine; "