TROUT VERSUS WHITEBAIT.

Hokitika Guardian, 7 June 1927, Page 4

TROUT VERSUS WHITEBAIT.

OTAGO ACCI.IM ATISA'I lON SOCIETY’S REPORT.

in response to the Council's request to report on the effect that trout have yti the whitebait 1 beg to report as follows:

\ erv lew people have bad the time or the opportunity to follow out the lift* history and habits of the whitebait, but from the scattered notes of those who have and from personal observation, tlie following arc my conclusions.

Whitebait are tbe young fry of several species of fish. Those are the ciianga or minim, the encumber smelt, tbe kokopu or native trout, and the upukorora or grayling. The first stage is the ova, and we know that the mature fish ascend the rivers in the summer and autumn and large numbers deposit their spawn in the tidal water shallows where the fry hatches

and is washed out to sea. In tbe spring months these young fry ascend the rivers in their myriads, and Hut-

| ton in his notes on the subject states I that the first shoals consist of the ! young of tlie enanga followed closely by the young smelt, and then by mixed shoals of kokopu aiul grayling. These observations have never been contradicted, but I have had some confirmation of them getting the unmixed enanga fry in the first shoals of the season, and later on in the season finding smelt and kokopu mixed. The appearance of all shoals of fish is variable in different years. A species which is common one year may not put in an. appearance again for several years, and this applies to the whitebait as well as other fish. Some years hack the few whitebait coming up the Otago rivers was a matter for great concern, and the writer was inclined to blame the introduction of imported fresh water fish for it. The last two years, and especially in 1026, whitebait have been plentiful in our streams and this undoubtedly points to the conclusion that this fish is not in any present danger of extermination as it is actually able to increase under present conditions. In considering the effect of trout and salmon on the whitebait, one important point must not be overlooked. Although they feed on the whitebait they also feed on the enanga. smelt, kokopu, bullies and crayfish and all these in turn feed on the whitebait, so that the trout is helping to preserve the whitebait by keeping clown its natural enemies. The spawning of the mature fish is so tremendous that the natural iurrease is easily maintain-

When the spawn is deposited, the luilley feeds largely on the ova, and the reduction of the. number of bullies by the front would largely help to preserve the whitebait. In conclusion I would point out that the amount of whitebait devoured by fish is a very small item indeed ns against the immense numbers that the whitebait. netters take from the streams, and unless this wholesale de-

struction is checked and controlled, the whitebait are in a very real danger of extermination. ( Signed) G. HOWES. Dunedin, May 31st.