FISH AND FISH HATCHING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2894, 1 September 1909, Page 18

FISH AND FISH HATCHING.

LECTURE BY MR G. M. THOMSON In the Victoria Hall on Wednesday, Aug. 26, a fair audience gathered to listen to - address by Mr G. M. Thomson, M.P.. upon tne subject of fish, having especial reference to the aspects, of the -work done by the Portobello Fish Hatchery, with wiiich Mr Tr 'tnson has been so long associated. Professor Park presided over the ? meeting, and briefly introduced fcheepeaker, ' referring as lie did so to bhe history of the establishment of the hatchery and Mr Thomson's connection with it. " Mr Thomson prefaced his address by remarking that the hatchery- at Portobello had now been established some five years, and it might be thoug.it that by now theI public would have some knowledge of it 1 and its objectSj but his board had been | surprised to discover 1 what a decree of • ignorance existed in the public mind, and ' had asked him in view of this fact to take lan early opportunity to deliver some specific information. As a preliroina.ry to thus special presentation, Mr Thomson dealt briefly w ith ""the fishes of New Zea- | land, saying that there were between" 40 ' and 50 edible species, of which about two ' dozen were generally distributed, while 1 lh»- others v^ere more "or" leas local. "Man* . i people thought thafc the fish of the Sou-; them Hemisphere were less valuab'.c and ti^ty than' those of fclie Northern Hemisphere; but thi£ bplief waa characterised by Mr Thomson as little better than a myth. Wlia*~was known about the life history of £6>hes was very little from a } scientific .point of. view, and in. view of fcho 'uyery great national aseet whjoh good fishing grounds represented, it was evident; , that it was an important branch of work, which needed prosecution. He was often surprised at th© want of knowledge possessed by those engaging in fche fishing industry. As a matter of fast, the fishermen knew hardly anything about the fish they caught, and when thtey applied to Parliament or Ministers of the Crown for regulations concerning fishing, they did so with hardly any regard fo the facts of the caise As an example, regulations wore passed concerning the size at which ba-rra-couta should be oaught, but the barracouta was a fish of very wide distribution, and of great numbers and productivity, and all . the fish they could catch would never affect the supply in the least. It waa while-con-sidering the% regulations that he lied, been _ led to take up the matter of work in con- * nection with fisheries. Remarking^ .that New Zealand had about 5300 miles of coastline, Mr Thomson then entered upon a particular citation of New Zealand fishes, explaining that though .100 fathoms" was recognised as the trawler's limit as a general rule, in New Zealand the trawlers'wer© not required to go deeper than 30- fathoms, as beyond that d'epm, there. -.were .very> few fish. X/ine fi«hing; however, was oari-" ducted .at a greater depth. Surrounding ' bhe'-' ooasL 'of. "Zeal&nd" /frwre-" was a great continental ' shelf, 'where the -water suddenly attained great and exceptional deptihs, and this fact constituted 'a difference /between New Zealand and the Euro- - pean countries, for the fatter, in- the majority of cases; had large areas of bomparatively shallow water, and this* fact had, a direct influence upon the fish supply obtained. From this general treatment of fi&hes Mr Thomson proceeded to deal with the subject of fieli hatchery work. The total amount 'he Government of New Zealand spent upon this, he -mi id, was less than £1000 per year; in 19C6-7 the United States of America sraent £100.000. For this sua> th«y had turned out 503,000,000,000 fiah and 161,000,000,000 larvae of lobsters. The result of this was that no depletion of fi?ii supply was feoi-ed, and the lobster fields . were being restored to thair former produotivity. After a comprehensive arad detailed explanation .of the operat'one of the Portobello Fish Hatchery, the lecture was . <-oncluded by there being thrown upon the screen a series of very interesting views, showing various b liWings in connection with fche work, and also views' of the different forms taken by the young lobsters at various stages of their existence. These pictures were interestingly - commented upon by the lecturer. At the close of the evemntr -i very hearty vote of thanks waa aqcorded Mr Thomson. . .

The cippeoiranee every now ami again of sharks in the Tima.ru harbour hea caused, a good many bathers to become a little « shy of the water, and the suggestion is made that the authorities should fence ink a portion of. the bay by mea-os of piles , with copper netting stretdhed between thorn (says the Timaru Herald), or in the alternative, e-reot a picket fence, either of which would effectively keep undesirable sea monsteis out of the bathing enclosure. "LINSEED COMPOUND." The "Stackport Remedy " cr Coug-hs and Colds. Of 40 years' proven efficacy.