ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3093, 25 May 1917, Page 6

ACCLIMATISATION SOCIETY

WELLINGTON 'SOCIETY'S ANNUAL MEETING FISH, FUR AND FEATHER The annual report of the Wellington Acclimatisation Kociety, to be presX<£ at next Wednesday's meeting, states that the receipts lor the financial year ended March 31, 1917, were SAM i&f th rin . cipal items bciinj proceeds of licensee,, viz.: lishing, £605 55.; game ,£215 0- - d S i 1 fo vff ; Govc "»men(; subsidy* j 00; fines, £21; rent, i>2s; donations . Xl 5; deer and pheasants (sold- prior to March 31 19J6), JH2. The paymeX reached £\vh> 125., being debit balanco at bank brought forward from the previous year, .£ll7 8s.;; payments on account of the Masteiion hatchery, £i\u 13s. Id.; rangers' eiuaries and iC2SO IGs. (W.; secretary, .£100; gamo farm, J;si lis. 7d.; grants, <£50; printing and iidvertisiiig, £id 13s. Dd.; rent, 10s.; interest, ,£3l 7s. 5d.; and a number of small items, leaving a. debit balance afc bank on March 31, 1917, of ,£65, 412 10s. of this being cheque unnresented.

The liabilities as at March 81, 1917,. were ,£2OO lls. 9(1. The cash assets were— License fees outstanding: Pishing, d£74 35.; deer, £ob Bs.; fines, .£ls 10s.; subsidy, .£l6 13s. -Id.; rents, .£l2 10s.; cash.' on hand, £7 IB'. 5d.; eundry, M 55.; making a total of JUSG 3s. 9d. The total assets after deducting all liabilities' were JililG 12s! Raisfng Pheasants. A special committee- 6et up for the" purpose of inquiring into tho subject of pheasant rearing recommends ;that pheasant rearing on a moderate 6cale be carried out by (he curator at Maelerton. Arrangements have been made to enable the council to .secure. somo stock birds, should these be required. Tho council feels convinced that in many parts of the district pheasants and quaall ■ will do well, and in the interests ofi sporrsmeu with the gun the society should adopt methods whereby systematic stocking of suitable parts could be assured, thus improving tho sport Mid adding to the number of license?. the fishing Season. "The season," the report says, "hasi been in every way a duplicate of that: for 1915-IG. Soon after tho opening ai long spell of drought prevailed; then, rivers ami streams filled; then a second! dry period played havoc with the fish, and numbers were lost. Still, much excellent eport was enjoyed. . . . The Eangitikei Kiver, tho Makuri, tho Huainahunga, and at times the Hautaput have provided fish of good quality."- As noted in previous reports - , the Council lias paid particular attention to the stocking of the Hutt Eiver in recent years, and that this has been warranted ha's been amply shown by the large number of fishermen who have taken advan- , tage of tho excellent sport providedthere. A distinct improvement has been noticeable each year, and during the past season good takes of 3, 4, and slb. fell have been frequent."Pisciculture. ' Owing to the lack of funds, the poof' , weather during collections at HakataraJ , mea and elsewhere, and the failure in delivery of 100,000 brown trout ova, only 3(i0,0Q0 brown and 60,000 rainbow werd available for hatching operations. These passed oil smoothly, and 322,750 'browm trout fry and 57,500 rainbow trout fry were ; distributed. Fifty thousand uneyed brown trout ova were purchased! from the North Canterbury Acclimatisation Society, but none outlived the journey from Canterbury to Masterton. The , North Canterbury Society, with fine sporting spirit, replaced the consignment with eyed ova. Owing to the alternate periods of drought and flood in many rivers and streams, it is that restocking be carried out in several parts of the society's district, and at this date the council has ordered 850,000 brown trout ova. and 150,000 rainbow trout ova from Hakataramea and Potorua respectively, and it is possible that some further purchases may be rrade. The society's hatchery a t JfasteTton can, without additional cost other than ■ the purchase- price, deal with a' larger number than 1,000,000 ova. Five hundred brown fry and 500 rainbow fry, were presented to the Wellington Zoo.

Game Shooting Season. ".The game shooting season of 1916 was' more successful than for the past few years. Hares were fairly plentiful la numy parts of the district, and many good bags were made. Pheasants were scarce, except in the sanctuaries, but Californian quail could be met with i« numbers, especially in the Taihape district. Grey ducts and swane were not so numerous as in former seasons, and the small arms of the Wairarapa take were swept bare of numbers of swans by shooters in a fast motor boat. Opossums. "After a long period of waiting the society obtained from the Minister in charge an order protecting opossums in. all parts of the Wellington district. Efforts are now being made to have regulations ' framed covering the whole question of (a) the issue of licenses for. a short winter season; (b) limiting the number to be taken per license; (c) gener. ally to provide for the sale of opossums and the skins of these animals, and to provide that all fees received be paid to the local; Acclimatisation Society in whose district the licenses are issued., Many requests for opossums having been received from the Auckland Acclimatisation Society, the Tourist Department, and from local bodies, the society is now applying to the Department of Internal Affairs for. a'permit to trap (with box traps onlyi a number of opossums for liberation" in parts of the society's district, and for th'e purpose of supplying , the applicants above'mentioned, and is also asking permission from the Lands Department to trap (in conjunction with; the Government ranker at Botorua) opossums on Kapiti Island, the society's ranger having reported that the" Paraparanmu Tteserve will not supply sufficient to meet applications. Convictions. "Excellent work was done during the year now ended by the society's rangers, the police, and by several honorary rangers, and U convictions were obtained, some being of an important character—the buying' and selling of trout, shooting ducks on a sanctuary, dynamiting fish, and shooting fish, were dealt.with in a, manner fairly satisfactory to the society. Jfany ' more convictions would be recorded if settlers would give evidence of bree'ehes of both Acts taking ptoce. irf their districts."