ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY

Press, Volume LXXIX, Issue 23962, 1 June 1943, Page 6

ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY

ANNUAL MEETING HELD Complaints were made by several members last evening at the annual meeting . in Christchurch of the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society that pollution from the freezing works at Belfast had been responsible for the loss of fish in the south branch of the Waimakariri river, and that this was seriously interfering with fishing. It was decided to recommend the incoming council to request the works to have screens installed. The meeting also resolved that the new council should make representations to the Lake Ellesmere Drainage Board that, when the shooting season was of short duration, the lake should be held closed until it was over. Another recommendation was that the official fishing season for the rivers should begin on October 1 and close on April 30. “Cannot we do this now instead of simply making it a recommendation?” asked a member. The president (Dr. D. McK. Dickson): I think you should leave it as it is. It was then moved that the council be requested to reopen the fish hatcheries for the coming season; also that try be put back in the Selwyn and other Canterbury rivers and lakes. This proposal, however, was defeated. The annual report, which was adopted, stated that the council had been of opinion that its income and expenditure should be revised, and that a concerted effort should be made to live within the society’s income. Recourse to financial reserves should be resorted to only, it was stated, in the event of the society’s objects becoming imperilled. The loss of shooting licence revenue had been in the vicinity of £7oo. and, with the prospect of a reduction in fishing licence sales, it was apparent that some retrenchment was unavoidable. Consequently, the field staff had been reduced, and the bird rearing programme at Greenpark had been considerably curtailed. The policy of the council, therefore, had been to pursue a prudent and pconomical course. Some concern had been expressed by landowners respecting the number of black swans in the vicinity of Lake Ellesmere. It had been suggested that unless further increases in numbers were checked the birds might become not only a nuisance to the farming community but also would themselves suffer deterioration through lack of food. In response to these representations a collection of eggs had resulted in 3643 being taken, during what was generally regarded as an unprolific breeding season. The game committee reported that the council had been compelled to cease operations at the game farm in August. All livestock had been satisfactorily disposed of, and the property, apart from its use for grazing and ranging purposes, had been closed until a return to more normal times. By the employment of casual labour and cartage contractors, stated the fish committee’s report, and with the assistance of landowners, it had been possible to transfer 28,350 fish to permanent water.