Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, JAN. 11, 1898. Oup Fishermen and Fisheries.

Manawatu Herald, 11 January 1898, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, JAN. 11, 1898. Oup Fishermen and Fisheries.

« — . On Saturday an action wa3 taken by some one possessing a little brief authority under an Order in Council, which exhibits in all its worst lights the objectionable Game Laws of England. We have in our district an Acclimilization Society whose chief object has been to import animals, birds, and fishes into the country more for the purpose of sport for its members than for the real advancement of the settler. Amongst the importations we can point to hares which have become, here, and in many other places, as great a nnfsance os the rabbit. We do not suppose the Society can urge any good reason for the introduction of hares, except for sport, and from a weak government they obtain power to pre?erve these which are pests to the industrious gardener and orchardist. Pheasants are another instance of ill advised protection, as many a person ha& been fined for ihooting them whilst out after other game, and thus bad feeling has been caused. The settler, the man who has to till his ground by the sweat of his brow is made lhe unwilling keeper of hares ond birds in order that a few townspeople may go out for a day's shooting, and this is what is thought to be a satisfactory way of stocking the country with animals and birds thafc the settler would much rather be without. Game laws are much to be objected to, and the sooner these attempts of Societies (generally established from selfish motives) to create them in this colony, are stopped the better it wil) be. If persons fond of shooting or fishing like to spend their money in procuring different species of game •jnd fish, by all means let Ihem do so, but as they secure free living fot their pets on other people's property let there he a mutual interest hy biting all have a share in the fun. This is however by the way. It is merely to lead up to the fact that the Society not content with putting every landowner under contribution for their amusement have advanced another step and claimed a right over the rivers and seas of this island. A good many years ngo some trout wero liberated in the streams running into the Mauawatu river, chiefly in order that the sub scribers tv the cost of stcekiDg the Hr.-ams might presently enjoy the pastime of fly fishing. A very pretty sport is such fishing, and as this .-.importation was confined wiihin certain areas, the members were enabled to enjoy their fun afc on one else's cost. Afc lea-fc so it was thought, bufc on Saturday a Mr Moorhouse, a ranger of thi Society, descended upon the fbherm^n by the beach and directed them to set no nets in thj river further than a :]'ior'.er of a mile of the mouth, •n-'cau'p, so he told them, there had b?.en s»!mon-tront caught in 'these nets and sold. This is undoubtedly a fact and one nofc to be^ avoided when set net? or any other nets are used, and would ju3ta3 easily happrn in the area of tha river ho would graciously allow fi-herinm to use, so that the complaint does not seem well founded. The wickedness of this order we will point our furlher on, but the selfishness is at once apparent, thafc whereas somo well t's do persons desire to fish in the Manawatu at Palmerston, Woodville and rounda bout, the men who have always fished at the month of the river are nofc to do so any longer, except they do so with a rod and line and pay a guinea as a member of tb4.s patriotic society 1 Fancy these unfortunate men attempting to make a living this way? Because the Acclimilization Society like fishing for trout no one else may fish for anything else except with rod and line, for fear thafc these men who aro earning their living by providing the inland towns with fish might now and again secure, without charge, a fi°b, the fry of which of which afc a •rj^fo '.a thousand the Society had purcha?e3 and put into the river. Can anything show selfishness in a grosser light ? There are fishing at the Heads now four married men with families and'seven single men, making close on twenty souls dependent on fche harvest of the river for tbeir daily bread. Because a few trout cet caught these people can starve for all that the Society cares. The outlay in boats, nets, &q. which these men have had to make count as nothing in the eyes of the members of a Society who oan afford to pay a guinpa a year for their amusement, yet the capital value to these men is their all, and would amount to close on £200; The fishermen have a hard life and their busy and profitable time is from September to the end of May, so thafc they are stopped in their best months. The income they obtain during these months, fche total representing about £150 a month, helps them over fche sla^k times so that it is to be hoped sufficient energy will be shown to cause 'he. government fco sfcfp in and prohibit any suoh action being enforced J as that o! tho Ranger, Mr Moorhous*

There are other people interested besides the fishermen and the Society in the spoil of the river. Just now shoals of kuhawi arc swimming about, and presently there will be the J scbnappar, whilst flounders, and ! soles are daily caught. These have ; been sent away by train every morning and secured to those resident inland a suitable and healthy diet 1 luring the summer. By stopping the setting of the nets the fish supply is stopped, just because there may be a trout or two more in the upper reaches of the river I The excuses made for suoh action is as absurd as tbe action is abominable. Tako up any newspaper published near to the tributaries of the Manawatu and there will be read the statement that there has never been a better supply of fish than this year. Tljis is good proof that trout have increased and multiplied exceedingly. Mr Walden, Who has kinwn the river f ' the lasfc thirry years, asserts that at Moutoa the river is alive with trout. It mast be nine or ten years since the first trout were liberated in this river, and we remember recording the catch of one near the beach some eight years ago, and as there have been set nets used in the river all this time it is evident that the nets have not interfered with the increase ot these fish in the upper waters, so that such drastic measures now appear most surprising and mo3t unnecessary, If the Society grudgo that anyone unable to pay a guinea to its funds should have a trout we do not see why we should not be allowed to have fish which have been provided from a source fortunately not tainted with selfishness. The difficulty appears to be capable of solving. It must be remembered that to catch fish the nej;s must be put where tbey have been put up to now, and that within a quarter of a mile of tho mouth there is both too much surf and too great a run of the tide to set nets. Prohibit, if it is desired, the fishermen from selling the few trout which get caught in their nets, so that they may have no encouragement to take them, but it would be awful waste, as generally a fish like the trout gets drowned by being caught by the gills in the meshes, and if not sold, it would not benefit -the Society to return the dead body to the river. The Society at preseut is destroying plant worth £200 and depriving 20 souls from a living to secure the safety of a few of one particular kind of fish. It would appear that a much simpler way to look after the fi^h would be to get the Stationmaster at Foxton to set on their behalf. AU the fish, practically, go by train, and are brought to the wharf in open boats, and even if sacked, an inppection would be simple. The fishermen do not fish for trout, they fi3j for thousand? of other fish, but they cannot help a trout running his head into a trap. They would be willing that the trout caught should be confiscated, and, let us suggest, sold to provide funds for the encouragement of fly fishers. Their calling is one tlms can easily be inspected as set nets are only cleared at high tide or low tide, as the run is likely to f og t'ae abhors at any other time. We understand that the fishermen are representing their cafe to the Colonial Secretary, and we think it would be wise if the Borough Council, aud our neighbouring local bodies were to take the matter up, as besides its being a question of a great hardship being inflicted on men for no real advantage, it is a gross interference by a small Sooiety with the food supply of a large population.