Fingerlings Killed By D.D.T.

Press, Volume CV, Issue 30962, 19 January 1966, Page 1

Fingerlings Killed By D.D.T.

(N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND. Jan. 18. Concern at the alarmingly high loss of trout fingerlings suffered by the Tauranga Acclimatisation Society during the last two years has been expressed by the president, Mr J. B. Prior, of Te Puke.

The loss was almost certainly due, he said, to the presence of the insecticide D.D.T. and its derivatives in food and water supplies. Mr Prior said that only 2000 fingerlings now remained out of a total of 60,000 which hatched from the ova from the Turangi station of the Department of Internal Affairs.

Last year the losses were equally high. Mr Prior said the trouble began when he started to feed

the trout fingerlings on milk powder, animal liver, meatmeal and fish food.

An analysis of these foods at the Wallaceville and Ruakura research institutes had disclosed that the meat-meal and liver showed 0.4 parts per million of D.D.T., the fish food 0.02 parts and the spring water 0.005 parts. The figures for the dairy products were considerably in excess of any of these. The only measure he could now take for the coming year’s intake of fingerlings in June would be to try to get animal liver from a South Island freezing works, said Mr Prior.

The livers there, checked to be free from D.D.T., were made available to Government trout-rearing stations. Mr Prior said that with the widespread use of D.D.T. derivatives in agriculture, there was no river in New Zealand that was not contaminated and

he had fears for the future of trout. A survey last year had shown that fish from the Rotorua lakes yielded 0.8 parts per million. As the effect of the D.D.T. was cumulative a higher figure would be shown this year.

The result could be that! before long the indigenous fish which serve as food for trout would be wiped out. Mr Prior said that he considered that the poor run of whitebait in Bay of Plenty rivers this season was due to the same reason.