FISH & FISHERIES ,

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2200, 13 July 1914, Page 5

FISH & FISHERIES ,

• COOK STRAIT CATCHES ' WHERE WELLINGTON'S SUPPLIES COME FROk ' o ,^ r °P°^ a '- that...Wellnjgtou 'should .a- J'P.bark^oii, a municipalfish-trawling enr, , wrprise broiight a well-knoiyn-fisli- raerchant into : Tim Dominion Ofhce on Fri- . -, W> to utter -a word of • warning.' He j - , oegan. by explaining that- thero was a impression, that-tlie dearness of -; .lush was due. to tlio; middleman l getting an undue profit, and that tho uurortun- - ■ ate bshertnan got next- to nothing for llipir catches.;.., .To-indicate 'tho, actual : f : i state of- aftairs, ho produced a state- .' • ;- I ® e ? l t showing tho: monthly cheques ho . bad paid out to three parties r of Wol-j'fßWn-fishermen of four •: men - each; lhe amounts wero as followV : 1914. > A & Co. B & Co. C. &■ Co Juno 220 202 • 196 May 143 107 132 - April 129- 140 106 March 103 77 92 February 116 115 206 January . v . 135 ' 102 80 These. paymonts ; it was added, * were made almost entirely -for hapuka; as the; fishermen .with the bigger * launches .-..wi1l not trouble to cateh-.any other- kind- ' of fish. iV'./ - i, A Wideawake Fisherman.- ■ - v lt seenislthat :eighteen months ; or'so a Ko a wideawake Italian'fisherman: liap■pened to "seo: a .chart of . Cook Strait, and noted there were several'deep .. . '.placcs- 111.1 tho bottom. ' - This: set' him thinking. Previously, Cook Strait had ■ :been just so much water to< the. Italians; : ''-and- their/enterprise ' outside the noigh- - bourhood of the harbour was directed chiefly to • working the : dangerous,- 'and ..-not particularly profitablo grounds of I'alliser Bay. • • Tne , same men .1 whoso earnings are shown above were not'then V--, niak-inp; more; than- an;: aVerage of pos- - sibh / £2 10s a week t ' -- ■; - _ Tho fisherman who'; had seen the .chairt. did not lose much time in getting-,his'l • latmch;-Vrigli£.--.oufc' -irit6"%tlie'!'.Strait,Viixid;' , -.testing tlio ground, around one'i of the 1 . deeps in tlio bottom. Ho was-rewarded by; a fino catch of hapuka, and presently. discovered-that by working around tho .edges, of these holes - any • quantity of :: hapuka could be caught, particularly from- February to> October; 'whon tjie. . fish seemed to be making up to them . , for spawning., Acrosstthe<holes them- ■ solves: little was to bo had; The -other ■v.; suit,; ■ and .charts, of the Strait wero ;in, j demaiid among them'.'. '. Their, present : v >' / method. .bear.ings; say, from Palliser: and. Terawhiti, .; \and keep tho launches drifting .around the edges of-the holes.::. The men-work' night and day, and- ithough they-i-.vare r; doing well as avresult:'of- 1 their-enter-: prise,'/it as'?tbetvresnM'^6jF-t.solid'• •" and continuous 'jabouf 'that^he'.'colbnial-- - born fisherman would not consider.-- " - What a Trawler Costs. - Probably it was added, the 'advolates ■;: of <a municipal. fish-trawler did not; knowj.what/it/cost ;te.:. run a. trawler. Most:: Wellington people would / /-ibervthe Countessr. This one-time.fe'rry. ' steamer, is /now tfawlrng m " Hawke's 1 v Bay., Our, informant had wntten up to . and inquired what tlio- cost' of running her .was. . He had received'tho . .. reply; which hej producedji giving 'tha ■total, expenditure for ' the-year -ending March 31 last'as £7031 17s 4d This included cases ;for,; packing - the fish ; . caught, cartage, coal, ~ i- and leaowals, insurance and depreciation, and gencjal expenses. It was .tliusiobvious'. that^'aitrawle'r on; ' ; V/ //>::/' ; >/^/,' ■/:' /■/j:

unsuitable grounds could easily become a sink for money. Tho question was, \\ as \ Cook Strait ; .'a good trawling •ground? j.--'The;Hawke's Bay Company had had tho- Countess and' the Norn ■ Niven down on several occasions to try it out, and ;their experience. was not at alj . favourable, . Tho best - plafo 1 was round m Palliser 'Bay, on tho eastern sido of which .fair ''catches of: moki .could sbmetimds.; .be .V.made,• but':*tlie bay. was exposed>to .tho .full force.'of jtlie weather ;.andj>;very .dangerous/' to-work.'. Tliero was good: ground at the mouth of tho Wairaußiver, but this was- too shallow, to-be'workecl : except by 'launches. In Blind Bay - and Golden Bay any-.,: amount-, of • ; fisli, could; be got by a . trawler, but thev were all of one kind—big, fullfheaded "'snapper with tliin bodies, a variety for which tho public had no fancy. v/ y"''--"'. : :W-'V : 'i/ : K No Boom Expected. . ../-Asked for.liis/views about'.the fishing industry generally, this, merchant , did not:*seem.'particularly-:optimistic,, and ,wa?-not;.: looking,, for. aiiy - immediate boom in fishing. We could not, in his opinion,'' expect any;? great development until our population had very much increased .... means of transit were needed,' for the facilities Ifor railing fish were poorer no-w. ■tliah; they fifteen years ago. : Finally ; a 'cheaper 'supply of ice was '-necessary.,/ Ice -in : New Zealand. .'cost ifrom £2 10s. to £4 'a- ton* 'whereas v in, :England,"_ it is-not .nearly' so."milch;, required owing to the ,cooler climate and.quick railage,- it'can' bo obtained at from 7s. to Bs. a- ton. As for tho railway transit, ' : jt*sko'uld bo remembered .that' isirice 1 the Railway Depaitment had shut the fish vans off tho mail ; trains from Napier, the supplies! from the ,trawling fleet,: instead of coining to, hand at 7 p.m., and being sold that evening,' did' not now reach the Cii-y until - midnight arid could. not; be disposed of until next morning. Mas*terton''usedito: get. its fish "at.3.30 p.ni:, now it'.was 10 n.m. before tlio trains got'in with it. To send fish from Wei-' lington -to ' New /Plymouth ; :took. ; . two whole days,; •' • . j .-'■/ Where the Fish are coming From. •.The principal source of fish, supply was, of course,-Hawke's Bay, which was probably as fine a ground as there was in .the world for 1 flat-fish, trawling. There -were': now about ' thirteen . ' or; fourteen, trawlers-'at; work in the .bay,' and tho Countess- was-regularly going as , far afield as the stretch of coast in tlio, Bay of .Plenty; from Cape Runaway to Opotilci, a'distance of 300 miles from, her base,' and with' .'a ;nasty run home* in ■ dirty weather. ■' Big catches of- halco -were made m Hawke's Bay, near Port-, land Island,- from October to ' the - end : of : December. Of the .fish now coming forward flounders were coming principally ..from Napier,-;.!liames, and.the;AVairaii;' 'blue ; cod ..'-'and . -butter 7 fish,.; from. . the French Pass and Marlborough ■ Sounds; crayfish and hapuka from Kaikoura; warchou, btfttdr-fish, and blue cod from Paraparaumu, and butter-fish from Makara. / ■/' I' : Soine, offhe finest' blue-.'cod ,procur-/ajble-were'/to .-be/caught' in"' Cook; Strait,, but the fishermen would not put in a day's 'fislimg':for-bhio cod and earn £8 :to, ; £10' when : they .'cOuld.''/with /less, trouble go, out/ten. /miles i from. ■ Pencar-v row and. catch 150 hapuka and ■ earn over. £20. . Only the men with less gear .and/smaller launches.-would -trouble -to go for blue cod and butter-fish:' • Frequently huge -gluts ' of.' . hapuka c<vmo; in,'.aM/it'was', difijcnlt-to-'dispose -of- these without'.freezing;' /'/Most .other: fisli,"y:addedi-' our.: 'informant, '"can be sjnokedj ,'aiid glutsj'of. wa'rehpUj/Wrakihiictc., can. bo/.dealt- with • tins' way, and sold off later/on.;-; But/lia'puka- is, too; 4ar»e a fist and/top' oily with. 'satisfaction, ■ besides .' being', of adarlc'' coldur s next ; the. skin;,;.Wo- hav;e '.tried very-liardjto/push' ■this-;fi^h''6n:'to'i' : .'' : the: Austfali^': ( maHcet,.,'.offeringCit; at..2jd. ''. and: cleaned,"

but the quantity wo dispose: of ishard.ly. worth mentioning, we are tnus thrown back on .our local market, and 'Although ive fillet it and soil it. all prepared for the pan at- a low' price, viz., id. per lb., 1 nearly disposo'.of :tho vast quantities the fishermen' at' times bring in. Wo givo tho municipal market all they require provided they return to us not loss than the cost pricc, but they, dispose of comparatively little compared to the quantity caught."