VISIT BY FISHERIES EXPERT.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3559, 6 November 1926, Page 3

VISIT BY FISHERIES EXPERT.

ORIGIN OF WHITEBAIT TO BE INVESTIGATED. AN INTERESTING INTERVIEW. On Thursday Mr A. E. Hefford, Fisheries expert, of the Marine Department, visited Foxton and, in company with Constable Owen, local'lnspector of Fisheries, made an inspection of the Manawatu River and Beach. Mr Hefford, who is one of the foremost fisheries authorities of Great Britain, and who has recently been appointed as fisheries expert to the Marine Department by the New Zealand Government, is engaged in studying the whole of the fisheries of the Dominion in every detail. The object of his visit to Foxton was to study local conditions in connection with whitebait. Last! week Mr Hefford visited the West Coast on a similar mission, and inspected the Hokitika River and other streams on that const. Conditions 1 here, he informed our representative, were entirely different from those obtaining here as were the regulations governing the netting of the fish. Questioned as to the origin of the whitebait, Mr Hefford said that a good deal of mystery still sur'rounded the origin of the whitebait, or inanga (Galaxias attennatus). It was not definitely known where the whitebait spawned and what happened to the fry after leaving the egg. At Hokitika, said Mr Hefford, the fishermen considered the adult female whitebait, or inanga, found its way down stream in the months of February and March —mostly March —and deposited its eggs on the reeds of the mudflats at the mouths of the rivers, where the eggs were hatched and from whence the whitebait, after living for a period in salt water made its way up stream again. It was possible that this was the case, but Mr Hefford would not express himself ns to the correctness or otherwise of the theory. Mr Phillips, of the Dominion Museum, Wellington, he said, had secured samples of the eggs of the whitebait and had found that they sank in water. If this was correct, it would go to prove that the whitebait did not belong to the class of fish which produced floating eggs, which is the case with most sea fish. On the other hand, however, it was 1 not known whether comparative tests had been carried out with salt and fresh wafer. An egg that would sink in fresh water might easily float in salt water. There were several species of small fish known which produced eggs which stick to the bottom. , The theory held locally was to the effect that the whitebait on thiscoast found its way up the rivers and creeks, and spawned in the lakes. The local Maoris held this view. It was a debatable point, however, and one that required investigating before a definite -conclusion could be formed. He hoped to bo able to give the matter his consideration and to investigate the origin of the whitebait fully in the near future. One thing had been) discovered about the little fish, however, and that was that it ultimately turned into what was commonly called the inanga, or, in English, the minnow. Several whitebait that had been kept for observation purposes had after a period of two years, grown into inangas. Another feature was that the species in which the term “inanga" was applied, varied in different localities. Whitebait fishing was one of the foremost branches of the fishing industry in this country and the Marine Department was desirous of giving some attention to it, with.a view to developing, or at least preserving this young industry. There were already three canning factories operating in New Zealand: one in Auckland, which handled the whitebait of the Waikato and two on the Wfest Coast. Hence it would be seen that the whitebait industry figured prominently in the fisheries of the Dominion. Questioned by our representative as to the prospects of trawling off this coast, the expert said that until the coast line was explored it would be impossible to say what the prospects would be. “It is like prospecting for gold," he said, “one does not know that there is gold about, until one has prospected for it." He had no reason to believe, however, that fish would not be plentiful along this coast. Inclement weather prohibited Mr Hefford from further exploring the creek and river yesterday, but he had a chat with several local fishermen on the subject of his invest-

igation. Mr Hefford left Foxton yesterday afternoon for Wellington.