A PLEA FOR STATE FISHERIES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 47, 20 November 1918, Page 6

A PLEA FOR STATE FISHERIES

(To the Editor.)

Sir—lt is the duty of a democratic Government, such ls obtains in this country, to look afler the interests of its people, and, in those days of advanced thought, it is considered that one of its principle duties is to keep the people supplied with food at such prices as oreconsistent with the circumstances of-the time, livery day we find the price of the essential foodstuffs increasing, and the Government has made only a poor attempt to regulate the prices.: In allowing the farmers to charge such exorbitant prices for their meat the Government has not fulfilled its duty to the people. Of course we must bear in mind that our representatives in Parliament are fully .occupied with after-war problems, but while they are dismissing the future the great necessities of the present must be kept steadily in view. If any class of suppliers has benefited by the war it is tlu> farmers; and not only have they been well paid for their stock, but their profits on wool and produce have been doubled and trebled.

1 think the time has come for the Government to take steps to develop a source of 6upply which so far has hardly been "scratched." Pood lies all around us in the great oceaii surrounding New Zealand, and the fisaing industry' * needs only to be organised to bring forth an endless supply of cheap, but nourishing, food. And it i 6 the State which should take up this matter, as this food is tile property of the people, and once it is monopolised by private interests the benefit will have bden lost. Our -Department of Fisheries should first set to work to thoroughly explore the ocean, and I have. no doubt that vast virgin fishing 'grounds would be loci.ied. When we see the results obtained in New South Wales it shows what might bo done in this country, . and it behoves the peopie,. through tl.eir representatives in Parliament, to agitate and stir the Government into action at the "earliest possible moment.

lira recent number of "Stead's 'Review," an intensely interesting article is devoted to this subject, and for the benefit of those who have not had the opportunity of reading it, I quote a few facts relating to the industry in that country. There 1 are nine State fsh depots in Sydney and one in Newcastle, and thousands of people are supplied daily with fif./ 1 ., at prices ranging from as low as 2d. pel' pound. The State has erected a chain of coastal storage depots','both'north and south of Sydn 'y, an.l here the fish are received', in cold storage to be distributed by rail, road, .or • water to all pu'ts of tho State. A scheme is also well in hand to ihstal as early as possible a small canning plant, capable of dealing with 20001b lib. cans'of mullet per day. In the season other kinJs of fish, including sprate and sardines will also be canned here, and in due course fish meal for poultry, and pig and cattle feed will be manufactured lrom the waste. The work was initiated with three trawlers, but as the Government quickly recognised that there was no doubt of the presence of shoals of deop sea fish, which could be captured commercially by means of steam trawlers using the otter trawler net, orders were placed for four additional stool trawlers, and after many war delays, it is hoped these will be at work within the next six months. The most important part of the fishing grounds lies a few miles south'of Port Jackson, and directly cast of Botany Bay, and is known by the name of "Botany Ground." The principal fishing area is about three miles wide by about eight to ten miles long, and an idta of it's richness may be gained from the fact that the threo trawlers worked this /-.irt. continuously for five months, and at the end of that period caught more' than at the beginning. This is certainly a wonderful record, and places it amongst the principal fishing grounds of the world. Another great fishing ground lies east of Twofold Bay and Green Gape, and it is from this ground that most of the schnapper has' bea'i taken. As many as live thousand, ranging from five to fourteen pounds, have been taken in one week, in addition to large hauls of other tish. • lii addition to the grounds men tioned, a number of others have been located, and though, so far there has not been any opportunity to properly explore these, it is fully anticipated that these will be enormously prolific of the . best kinds of fish.

A great number of arguments will no doubt bo used against the initiation of deep soa fishing in N'ew Zealand, .and among them that tie sharks will not allow the iisli to come to the surface. It has been found that in Australian waters, where they u'e v:-ry numerous, that they only occasionally cause trouble, and so troublo from that source in New Zealand waters may bo pl-iced at a minimum. It must also be borne in mind that the New Zealand waters are of a much lower temperature, and are not so favourable to these robbers of the deep. The end of (lie terrible conflict, which has raged over four long years, is now in sight, and when wo look back we find that a factor which helped the British people to face the terrible ordeals was the manner in which the British Navy kept tho U-boats in check, thus allowing food supplies to reach tho Mother Country. To accomplish this great work, tho Navy has employed hundreds of minesweepers and trawlers, and when hostilities have finally ceased many of these will bo lying idle. It would be well for our Government to secure a., option over a number of these at the earliest possiblemoment, so that a start may be made immediately tho grounds have been located Although tho expermontat' work will ! cost a large sum of nnney)' the national gain will be: (a) the opening up of a vast, inexhaustible »'ood supply for tho State; (b) the saving to the public of many thousands of pounds in the 'low price of a prrdtot which hot rare and expensive will be plentiful and cheap. I trust that this pica will not go by without a result, ami I hopo that the Government will speedily recognise this valu- i able national asset, and push ahead with l its development.—l am, etc., 1 PRO BONO PUBLICO. ,