THE MAORI MESSENGER. Auckland, July 14, 1855.

Maori Messenger : Te Karere Maori, Volume V, Issue 119, 14 July 1853, Page 2

THE MAORI MESSENGER. Auckland, July 14, 1855.

We return to the subject of Fisheries, —a branch of human industry which has been eagerly prosecuted by all nations; and which, from the variety of trades in furnishes with omploymciit, is in every respect deserving ilit; most careful consideration of an enterprising ami thoughtful people. That llie c«: ri"n of l In; fish of llic New Zealand yeas does already engage the attention of .some of our people, is siinicienily obvious from ils occasional enumeration anion;; oflr ariiclcs of export; indeed, if our readers will turn to the present Shipping I.ist, they will perceive six and twenty packages of salt lisli, as constituting a portion of the cargo of (lie Sjwncer, recently sailed for Melbourne; now, if instead of merely 50 packages, hundreds and thousands of packages were lo be well and properly cured, we cannot doubt that abundant markets would bo found for their sale, and that a large and profitable trade, would be created; a trade moreover which, in ils uumcrou.* collateral requirements, would occasion n beneficial demand upon llic industry of boat builders, sail, rope, and net-makers, mariners, fishermen, coopers, sailers, packers, S c., and which would imparl an extraordinary activity lo all llie ports and estuaries of New Zealand. Since the occupation of California by the Americans, the wealth to be derived from the successful prosecution of the fisheries has not been suffered to escape their attention. Fisheries have been established, and arc now being conducted in the niosladj aulageotis manner. According to recent intelligence, there are four hundred boats employed on the Sacramento Itiver. Bach boat is worked by two men and one gill net. The value of each boal is estimated al 30/. the nets at 401 each. l'csidcs these, they possess twenty hauling seines worth 00/. each. The (ishiug season commences on the Ist of Feburaryaml continues lo the Ist of August; and during that period the estimated average return of each boal is 0/, a day, being 2,100 daily for the -JOOMioals. The hauling seines yield 30/. each a day or 000/. for llie whole. The fish thus caught supply the markets of Sacramento, San Francisco, and Marysville, as well as all (he mining (owns williiu sixty or seventy miles distant; and sometimes as much as 2000 lbs. weight are sent to one order. Of the whole amount of fish caught during the year IS'i-2, one-fourth was cured in sail, the remainder'being consumed as fresh and agreeable food. The largest market for .salmon at present is Sail Francisco. The amount daily shipped there is from five to six thousand pounds, will) every prospect of a largely increasing demand. it is quite true thai we have no salmon in llie New Zealand rivers; but il is equally undeniable that our coasts and bays leem with abundance of excellent, wholesome fish. Weiv a Fishery organized upon a systematic scale, with boats, uels, and (he requisite means of curing, who can doubt (hat llic result would be as profitable to the New Zealand as lo the Californian fishermen. There are now numerous existing inducements lo the establishment of such a fishery. We may instance llie almost entire absence of anything worthy of being called a supply of fish in the Auckland market: since, even at those irregular periods when lisli can be had at all, il is chiefly confined lo the supply of snappers. Now lisli, iu varieties, would not only prove an agreeable change of food even when beef, million, and pork arecheap, but now that butcher meal has become so exceedingly dear, it would be eagerly and largely purchased, ltesides, wJiilst our po-

filiation is increasing, and promising much more largely to increase, the flocks and herds arc increasing in nothing like an adequate proportion:-add to this, that the wide and wisely exlending culture of their lands by native farmers is or necessity causing a diniinution in the breeding and feeding ol pigs, it being impossible lo carry on cultivation and to feed pigs as heretofore after the native practice. Under such circumstances, we feel confident that a well organized fishery would prove as profitable to the I'ishcrs themselves, as beneficial lo the community at large. As a further proof—if proof at all be necessary—of ihe wealth to be derived, even in he gold countries, from a diligent prosceu''ii of (he Fisheries, wc shall cite the cx■Sjileorn foreign people, who migrated from iheir own country to California. That people arc the Chinese, many of whom have founded a village and established a fishery, in (he immediate vicinity of San Francisco. Their settlement consists of about one hundred and fifty inhabitants, who arc chiefly engaged in fishing. They have twenty-five boats, some of which may be seen at all hours moving over llic waters —some going to, others reluming from, the fishing grounds. The houses are placed in a line on each side of one street of the village, and look neat and comfortable. Ilerc and there a group is to be seen making flsli-lincs with ilicir rude machines, or sla eking in heaps (lie quantities of fish which lying on all sides sirouiul, dry in llic sun, and emit an ancient and fishlike odour. The fish which they calrh, consist of sturgeon, rays, and shark, and large quantities of herrings. The latter arc dried whole, while the larger ones are cut into thin pieces. When they arcsufiicicnlly dry, they are packed in barrels, boxes, or sacks, and sent lo San Francisco to be disposed of lo those of Iheir countrymen who are going to the mines or are bound upon long voyages. One of these industrious and intelligent Chinese assured the writer, from whom we derive this information, that llic average yield of (heir fishing amounted lo about 5000 lbs. weight a day, and that they found a ready sale for iheir fish at 20s. the hundred pounds weight.

We have placed these two distinet exampels of American and Chinese industry in conducting the fisheries or California before our readers for the express purpose of showing tliemhow, in a (to them) new and strange country too such very different peoples seize upon an easy and ayaliable source of wealth, and carry out the trade to their own great gain and the benefit of the country in which they have been led lo cast their several lots. Let us hope (he example will not be thrown away upon the natives and colonists of New Zealand, but that both may be led to embark in a pursuit which cannot fail to lie of the utmost consequence to the best interests of Ihis fine and fertile laud. 111 our former paper, we endeavoured to exhibit the great importance lo England and ■ oilier European nations of the Herring Fishcries. Another and very important branch oi" (he Fisheries is the North American Cod /sliery. The number of vessels engaged in that trade,—British, American, French, Dutch, and Spanish,—-is calculated at between 0000 and 7000; and these lake annually about 40 millions of fish. The mode of curing the cod is thus described: —on taking them, the bead is cut off, they are opened, sprinkled Willi salt, and thrown iulo the hold; and as they make ,wo or three fares ill a season, the fish are taken home lo be cured. Those vessels Which arc intended for the Labrador, or Coast fishery, arrive there in June, and select

a place for fishing, somewhere on iho Coast of the bay of Clinlciii's, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Straits of Bellcisle, or the entrance to Hudson's Ray. llerc they spend the summer, as they cure the fish on the coasis, drying them either on the rocks, or on fiakes eroded for Ihc purpose. On arriving, they anchor, dismantle their vessels, and convert I Item into stationary houses. The cod are usually taken hy line, nets being hut rarely employed; and as they liito with great voracity, almost anything serves for bait. In a fill lire paper, when we shall have exhibited the deep importance attached to the prosecution of the fisheries by civilized and commercial nations, and shall have fully explained the anxious care that has ever been taken for their protection and promotion, we shall endeavour loapply llie wisdom of those nations to the beneficial incitement of leading New Zealand to profit by their example. There is much neglected wealth in our sens and on our coasis. The quantity and quality of our fish (especially our oysters, and other shell fish) may, under a judicious system, be greatly increased and improved. .Viucli may be achieved in providing for our own comforts at home; and more may be accomplished in the creation of a highly profitable commercial export to the conn tries around us.