TROUT IN THE LAKES

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2866, 2 September 1916, Page 3

TROUT IN THE LAKES

' , : V- ' . THE ALLEGED DETERIORATION. Recently Mr. ' C. A. AVhitney, of Auckland, .-wrote.'to' the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society that the effect of netting in Lake Taupo. had been disastrous;'" the average weight of the trout having: decreased from 101b. to 35 Tho Hon. Mr. llussoll,'Tvho, as Minister of Internal Affairs, controls the Rotorua' and Taupo fisheries, points out tbat the netting operations were not' undertaken until some tinic after tho deterioration of the trout in both lakes had becomo very niarked, and so far from having been disastrous, tlioy have rosulted in' a'very noticeable improvement in the quality ot the lisli, tlie slabs and diseased fish being now very, much less in evidence than two or threo years ago. . ■ . . Sir. A\-hitncy ! s present attitude is, 'n the opinion of the Minister, surprising in- view of liis statements in a letter published in t.hc n New Zealand Sorald of March 1, i 910, in ivliinh he referred to the then apparent.decline iii the size of trout, and attributes tho general deterioration and disease to the disappearnuce of the-large fish, which -were the scavengers of the lakes, and the consequent increase in the number of weak and unhpaltli.v fisli spaivmng. In tlic samo lcttov lie Rioted the good w"ork already done by the Government, and. expressed "every confidence in the Department. which carries on the fishing in the Hot Lakes District in ■' being able to copo with the present trouble. The real reason for the decline m the size of the trout of to-day compared with the average si/.c a- tew years after tho lakes were first stocked is something .very different from the Department's netting operations. The rainbow trouti is normally in its American home a 21b. to 51b. ' fish, excellent for its size. good , in sporting, and perfect in condition. These are now obtainable in Lake Rotorua, and there is no evidence whatever that they will deteriorate lielow their natural size. AA'ben a new lake is'stocked, owing to the jibnormal conditions the fish grow to an abnormal size—anything from 151b. to 2()lb. —but this condition cannot be considered as a permanent one iii any circumstances, and the fact that the fish are reverting to their natural dimensions as tlio balance is obtained between food supply, and natural multiplication is neither a matter for alarm nor for Mr. AVhitney to attribute the trouble to the Department's operations.