Westland Acclimatisation and Tourist Society

Hokitika Guardian, 15 April 1932, Page 3

Westland Acclimatisation and Tourist Society

THURSDAY, APRIL 14th. The Council met at 7.5 p.m. Present: Messrs Armstrong (Chair), Braddon, Baker, King, Kelly, Parry, Mclntosh senr., Stuart, Wells, G. Perry, and Dr. Teichelmann. Apologies were made for Messrs Lloyd and Paterson.

The minutes of the previous meeting were confirmed, and the outward correspondence approved. IN WARD CORRESPONDENCE.

From Department of Internal Affairs, acknowledging reply regarding stalking pea-son. —R ec ei ved. From same, stating that the question of a close season for opossums will receive consideration and a reply sent later. —Received. From 'same, forwarding particulars of the game season, opening on May 2nd, together with Gazette notices. The fee is £1 payable to the Postmasters at Hokitika, Otira, Kumara, Rimu, Ross. Harihari, Weheka and Waiho Gorge.—Received. From Chief Inspector of Fisheries, replying that the application for. quinnat ova had been referred to the Departmental head.—lleeceived. From New Zealand Acclimatiisation Societies Association, notifying tne retirement of Mr Da.sent, secretaiy, and the appointment of Mr E. J C. Wiffin. Mr Dasent had been Secretary for 25 years. —Received, and appreciation expressed of Mr Dasent’s services. From Southland Acclimatisation Society, stating brown trout ova would be available towards the end of August. —Received From J. Harrison, Seddonville, applying for stalking block.—Received. Froy Grey District Society, forwarding payment of claim for hatchery maintenance, and stating this sea son the Society would concentrate on ranging the district.—Received, and regret expressed at decision of Society now that the. Hatchery was in good working order. From Toaroha Springs Committee, thanking the Society for donation.— Received. GENERAL. Accounts to the amount of £62 18s 6d were passed for payment Mr Gordon Robertson of Harihari was nominated as a Hon. Ranger to be recommende to the Department of Internal Affairs. It was decided to appoint a district Ranger for the opening of the shooting season. Mr W. Reeves was elected a member of the Society. The meeting concluded at 7.50 p.m.

ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the Society was held at 8 p.m. Dr. Teichelmann in the chair. Nineteen mem bens were present. The minutes of the previous annual meeting were confirmed. The Hon. Secretary read the reports and balance siieet.—Received. EXECUTIVE REPORT.

The Society has passed through another year in which fits activities were carried on as usual. Regular me-ecings of the Council were held, with a good average attendance. The business was on normal lines, while revenue was well maintained. The year opened with a credit balance of £lO4l 18s Id and closed with a credit of £IOO4 13s 7<l. a decline on the year’s work of £37 2s 6d. Of the credit about £IOOO is in cash, the bulk amount, £920, being in the Hokitika Savings Bank—£Boo of which is on deposit for two years.

The 'activities of t#ie Society in rcgnrd to fish culture were well maUda-m----ed as tlie report of the Hatchery Comii i:tee (lisclt/.scs. The expenditure for ova was £302, and the hatchery expenses £193. The hatchery was conducted in conjunction with the Urey District Society which contributed £2-19' or half of the cost. The Hatchery and grounds are iu well maintained order, while the approach also bears an improved appearance. Part time Hanging was done without material results on the. '.surface, but the knowledge of a Hanger in the district always has a deterring clfuet. Simi ls.r action might be taken in (Ids direction again, as there Is call for same according to reports. Deer .stalking returned £63 last year, but this year’s return will be less :Inin half. Some Kuglish stalkers who contemplated .the trip have postponed their visit to next year. The usual arrangements for deer culling were made but only £23 wen- paid out, tin* contractor not having advanced very far with his work. Some lurthcr liability has since accrued, and the account w.ill be presented to-night. .Mr Hodgkinsou, the contractor, has hern .assisted by Dciiniston Urns. In connection wii.li practical assistance regarding the conduct, of |he deer stalking season. Mi ,T. Forties of Christchurch who is intirnately acquainted with the district and its resources, gave ready and he pfu| advice, and ithe Society is indebted .. I V greatly lor Ins invaluable help. The Came licenses returned £3l. During the year the Society impor’-l 1 200 pheasants from the North Islaii I IS { .„st of £ I 10. With the aSslstalU ■ of'.Messrs Melntosli Sear, and dimr., the birds have been well distributed childly iu South Westland. They were placed in the care of several settlers who aie .ri■ ■l. i. i slVri'd at ll'lll ion to t III*: r chor'OS. and the lords have had an excellent start. Pheasants are prolci'b-d, and in,-iv not lie shot. It IS as Veil now !•» make this fmhlie, as the young bin|‘> should he given the ful'est oppo, imiily to become established, The thanks ot

the Society are dun to the ladies an gentlemen who hav.“ helped with th care and distribution of ithe birds ii the district. Opossum revenue earned from tin previous year, hut which came to eredn in the 'financial year under review total led £192. Last ..season was a close season, and there will no-t be any -accruim revenue. It has been recommeiulet that the present year be a close season and several Societies are moving in that direction. The reports indicate that 'the animals .are still very scarce, while the fur market continues very depressed. Opossums are beginning to appear in the south, which is a very suitable locality and 'they 'should well, but till they are in greater numbers and a more favourable market exists the close season should he maintained. The members of the Hatchery Committee and several auxiliaries who assisted with the work of -receiving • ova and distributing the fry thanks for their arduous work, -it was a busy, not to say a record season, and inly those connected with the lur of the ova. and fry know the amount of work involved. -All the work was performed without cost to the Socidv for the handling. The officers and Council have ait,tended to 'their duties with a degree of enthusiasm that has been very commendable in most cases. The 'Hon. ■Secretary. Mr -Evans, who -took up the duties in .Tune, 1922, lias intimated a desire -to retire from that office, and nominations for the post are before the meeting. Practically all the officers and the whole .Council will be re-elected unopposed. This, it is hoped, is a tribute to their work, rather than, to other members to contest the vacancies. The year will he entered upon under favourable financial auspices which ..is -some achievement in these times. ,of stringency. It is to be hoped the activities of tine Society! Iwill reflect for the further benefit and advancement of the district, and the creation of pleasurable sport for members.

Report on Hatchery Committee

The Hatchery Committee have much pleasure in reporting on the activities of the past season in eonno'-tion with the Hatchery at Lake Kanieri. The season commenced earlier than usual, due to the necessity for the Curator being in attendance while, lepaiis to the race and settling tank "ere being effected. A new footbridge across t-he river also was erected- Hie "hole „<-• the hatchery plant is now in thoroughly good order and with the exception of a box at the intake from the race, which needs reuewin.i- when the opportunity occurs, the Society should not Have any further cause for expenditure foe some time to come. A loading stand was also erected which was greatly appreciated by a! ! the helpers, a.s it considerably reduced the arduous work of lifting the heavy earns of fry and boxes of ova on to the lorries. Mr Midland commenced his duties on’ the first April', 10*31. “The Society was again -fortunate- tin’s year m wv.riug a. consignment of quinnat ova from Hakataramea. This arrived on tbe 16th June, 215,000 ova being the amount granted this year. The ova was in excellent condition and hatched out splendidly. The fry were liberated in the tributaries of the Hokitika Miver and in Lake Kanieri. Very lew fish were caught this season in Lake Kanio-i hut this may have been due to tin? iroqueut Hooding of the Lake during tin* early part of the fishing season, that being the time when the fishing is usually best in the Lake, ft is to he hoped that with the constant stocking. Lake Kanieri will in the near iuture bo a much more popular fishing resort but the absence of streams suitable L>r spawning. Hewing into tbe Lake, renders it very unlikely that the natural increase o' fish will be sufficient to maintain the supply for really good fishing. The. Grey District Society again cornier? tod with this branch in tbe batching activities with mutual advantage to both Societies. A total of 350,000 rainbow ova, and 650,000 brown ova were received and batched out. and with tbe exception of a consignment of 150.000 brown ova from Christ-: clnn-di, the whole supply arrived and batched out excellently. Tbe princi| a] trouble with tbe Christchurch ova was “blue swelling” and the disease was so prevalent that the consignment was not at all satisfactory. Grevmoiith ordered 250.000 each of Brown and Rainbow fry and from reports received, the various consignments of frv arrived at tbe destinations in satisfactory order.

The Westland Society’s quota "'as 100.000 Rainbow and 400.000 Drown an ( | were liberated as follows:—-

Brown Fry. Hokitika Tributaries 2.30 000 Fisherman’s Creek 20.000 Totnra Rive,- 20 W .M ikon ii i 20.000 A rahiira. 10.000 Teremakaii 60,00(1 Total 4O!)iD00 Rainbow Fry, Arahnra River -10.000 Hokitika Tributaries 00,000 'l'olai 100,000 From the foregoing figures it will >), . seen that the mil Dili foe the season was phenomenal, the total to- the three species of ITy being I ‘JIo.OOO, This const il lit 's a record as far as Jin's Sned'lv is eel leer llei 1, ; 1 1 11 1 ndle'ds gre'l credit on the care and nssidiulv uitli nhu h .Mr Ridlands carried mil Ins duii,.s ns ('lira I or. We have been fort uiiule in again securing file services of .Mr I’idla ml for Ihe coining season. The (.'rev Socicl v lias ill (incited that ,| will not lie requiring any fry this season hut intend to centralise its ad ivities in pursuit of I lie wily poacher. In iiilisei|lienee yiior ('omililllee has m'dered a supply uf 000.000 blown ova

1' at the- reduced price of 4/- per tlioust; and Ironi the Southland Society. This ! will enable us to maintain the policy of each year of further stocking our . streams that evnitua.ly brin- ■ the- lisliing up to the- best New Zealan.i • standards. Tile attention of the Society is ca.lle., to a number of men lisliing without licenses and it is suggested that a re- | ward bo oll'eced lor any information leading to a conviction, it may be elrecti vo also to publish the names of ah license holders, stay uit the eiid ui April, so that all fishermen may be n. a position to know “who’s wlm” Your Committee wish to thank al. those gentlemen who assisted in tli work during tin; season, and consider-ing-lhe. amount'd!' labour entailed, the hei|h was greatly appreciated and was a, great saving to the Society]' * 4lr Eidkuid relinquished ins'duties dir'the sth Decern b</-y W3i„ s Mr T. W. Bruce moved the adoption of the reports, and said tho'Vesult was highly complimentary for We year’s work. I lie Chairman said they were grateful to the Hatchery Committee for the work done. Ho was worry they were losing Mr Evans, but hoped he would assist the new Secretary to he appointed with a guiding hand. 'llie reports and statement of accounts was adopted, and a vote of thanks passed to the Secretary. A vote of thanks was carried also to the Hatchery Committee. ELECTION OF OFFICERS. President—-Dr Teiclielmann (re-elec-ted). Vice Presidents—Mr J. .1. Mclntosh (re-elected). Hon. Secretary and Treasurer] Messrs IT. N. Osmers, W. A. Rowe and H. W. Lodge were nominated, and the first named was elected on a ballot. The Secretary’s' honorarium was fixed at £l2 per annum. OoUncil—-MV.-i.sr.s A. C. Armstrong, A. N. Baker, W. Ilraddon, S. Godfrey, B. Kelly, J King, E. J. Lloyd, H. T. Parry, R. Paterson, G. Perry, R. Stuart, H. Wehs, Mr D. J. Evans wills appointed an auxiliary member. On the motion of Mr BraddOn, seconded by Mr Bruce, Mr Evans wais appointed a life honorary member of the Society. Mr Evans acknowledged the compliment. A vote of thanks was passed to the Council and Executive on the

motion of Mr Bruce, seconded by Mr Mclntosh junr The following Hatchery Committee was appointed: Meters A. 0. Armstrong, AV. Braddon, E. J. Lloyd, Hector Davidson, Cecil Proiston, A. Kelly and A. Thompson. Members expressed satisfaction at the young men corning forward. Dr. Teichelmann, Messrs Armstrong, and Os-mens were appointed to sign cheques. In a few valedictory remarks, Air Evans referred to the fact that in the present year owing to the loss of opossum revenue and the decline of deer licenses, the revenue would be less, and caution would require to Tie; exercised.' 'lt should bo possible with judicious ranging to increase the game and fishing licenses, and more members’ subscriptions might be collected. Alr Evans said if in a year’s time his health improved he would be glad to take an active part in the Society’s work again. Some general matters were diseiiMsed and the meeting concluded at 9 p.m.