SALMON IN OUR SEAS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1983, 13 February 1914, Page 4

SALMON IN OUR SEAS.

WHY THE FISH FAIL;

Faiktro to aeciimatise the Atlantic salmon in -New Zealand waters formed part of a- lecture delivered in-London, on December 10 by Mr. W. A. Willes, who investigated t-lio matter here many y-eai-s ago. "I eunxo to the conclusion, said Mr. Willes, "that tliofo woro two obstacles to success. In tho first place the oceanthat surromida New Zealand is of great depth, totally unlike the shallow waters which surrotmd tho cop.sts of Groat Britaiiii and whicli, in coiteeqaeiice, is-ono vast spawning bed for small fish_, such ■ae tho herring- and other round fish—the chief food of tho salmon. One may reasonably suppose that tlio,.food of tho salmon is not present in 'Siese deep waters, and it comes to this: that- a fish of s-urt'ace habits and iwcustomeel .to eli-al'low waters is being introduced to. ahabitat inconsistent With its natural state,. . ' ». ■ "Another cause ef failure may b:e the existence of large deep-sea fisn, which would prey upon the young smalts at tlie mouths of the rivers during their migration. To this, and to the want of their natural food, I attribute tho want of success in establishing the salmon in Now -Zealand. In our homo water? we have 'no great monsters cf tho deep to contend with. The smolts go &>«i to the sea, ia tteir thousands as; twq* year-old fish, returning in the follow--, ing .as fine> strongj healthy ftsh in prime condition' '' ■ ''But when wo come to trout there k ■a very different tale to tell. The.introduction ol brown trout and ra-utbow trout has beeil ens'vast sueeess. Nowhere in tlie world, so far as I know, is there better trauMishing than in' the-; Dominion of New Zealand. An examination cf the scales of these New Zealand trout .shows in ,tho majority of cases that they ajq'assuming tho habits--of thesalmon, ihirsmiich as' spawning jnarks ars well defined -ofr the scale, sueh as one might jneet ft-ith en p. salmon eeale, whereas tlieir ancestors in this cotintry never show anything cf tho sort on their Scales. Wo may gather froM this that trout in New Zealand, like the salmon, spend a mtich longer time over their spawning than is the caso. in Britain. I aiij told also that tho brown troutwliiel) frequent the rivers of the South, Isjand migfat-o. to the. Sep. when they, aro' of considetaJtl.q.siM, and return to-the rjyers brigli.t .and,silvery as salmon. "These'two 01-iisracterishi&s of tho Now Zealand trout, namely, tho appearance «f the- mark and the migration to "salt water, surely point to the provable evolution of a distinct, fish, which ni-ay aetmstem itself to its s-iir-roundingsVaiKl which may earn the title<tf Salnio Novae Zcalaadiae."