NETTING OF TROUT

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 107, 30 January 1920, Page 5

NETTING OF TROUT

BIGGER OPERATIONS AT TAUPO THE DEPARTMENT'S POLICY <« The taking of trout by'nets irom Lakes llotorua and llloloru has nowceased, but the Minister (Sir i'rancis Uell) has agreed to extend operations at Lako Taupo. The policy 01 Dig Department in regard to netting is to take fisli- from the lakes only in-order to reduce the. number of iisli suliieienliy to make it possible for all the remaining fish in the waters to get enough food trom the available supply, it was beoauso . the very rapid multiplication 01 the fish led to deterioration ot numbers of trout owing to the mad<;quacy of the food supply that the Department began to net in the first insfcuucc At Botorua netting was continued until it -was found that there were tew- it any poor-conditioned fish in the catches. Then operations were begun in Lake Kotoiti. Of late the catches.taken tiom this lake "have been small, and Tno fish have all been good lor tins reason netting in this lake has been stop wd for this season. What will lie done in future seasons will depend upon tho condition or the fish. One of the ehemes contemplated by the is tne .-.plenisning ot the food supp.) by tho introduction to the localitite.ol suitable insect or other food tor trout In Lake Taupo the intention is to reserve certain parts of the foreshore of tho lake for anglers, and to carry on netting operations on a larger scale than has yet been attempted possibly on quite a largo scale. The. fish in this lako have not yet deteriorated •to Uro condition in which tho fish in tho Kotorua lakes were some years ago out it is feared that unless sometlungdratic is done to reduce the nui ftf J» trout in Taupo soon the i»ulb» ina> bo serious, miring the period 01. « war it was not possih e for the inent to do very much at laupo. up mZ activinea have been conhned to the-Tokaumi end ot the lake, wheio there has been one launch operatmg. and the fish taken have all been to Wellington and intervening towns. Now that there is a real improvement in he condition of the trout in Kotorua lakes operations have been ceased there, indJstaff at Taupo Is being ncreasejL An additional launch has beeu Jut in commission, and it will work at tho Taupo end of the lake, lor angieis a small portion of the waters east of tho wharf at Taupo is being, reined tho Waitahanui part is being kept tor tno benefit of visitors from .*<|P"*' one mouth of tho Tongariro is be ng reserved for Tokaanu visitors, and the Wanganui is being kept for campers. All the rest of the lako will bo netted by the launches. Tho plant will bo divided between Tokaanu and taupo. The Tokaanu fish will be sent south to Wellington as hitherto, and the fish from tho Taupo end will go to Kotorua an,l Auckland. The work in the lake will bo under the Conservator of lush mid Game, who is coming down from Rotorua for this purpose. If the results justify, it is the intention to increase tho equipment on tho lake, and to extend the operations. , The cost of taking fish from the .am, and the cost of curing them, has increased considerably of late, and tho Department has had to increase prices to the public, but tho prices are slill much below the figure that trout would bring in a freo. market, and in Wellington are actually less than tho prico of ii,... ~<,a.'--*st"ffth taken from the sea. It has always been the intention of Sir Francis Bell that so soon :s tho fish could bo culled out by netung. new stock should be introduced, and. with this object in view ho communicated with the Minister in Charge cf the Canadian Fisheries at. Ottawa. The reply was, however, that they had only sufficient for tho stocking of the Canadian rivers, and it was suggested that inquiries might be made at AVashington. The reply from the American Department was that only a small quantity could bo spared, a quantity so small ?hat it would not justify the expense of RMidais a man over to bring tho fry bß The Department is fortified in the noting policy by tho .good results achieved at Rotorua, and it has in Lako Wakatipu an example of what happens whenfish are allowed to multiply. For many ears trout disappeared trom this Eta altogether, after having been exceedingly plentiful and very large. Only now are some trout to be seen in the kke having slowly come back, cither from rivers, or from the remnants of tl,e old stock which survived the famine years. '