EELS AT TAUPO

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 478, 11 March 1933, Page 6

EELS AT TAUPO

caught in river t INTEREST AMONG ANGLElES raised by unuisual find maori superstitions (Specially written for the "Post" by Ralph H. Ward.) . Considerdble interest has been 0 aroused among anglers and those in- w terested in natural history by the y recfent appearance of eels in the Wai- e. kato River close to Taupo. From time q immemorial, the water of Lake Taupo c and of all its tributary streams, and s, of the Waikato River downstream to p a point at the head of the Arapuni ^ Gongie known formerly as Te Aukati, y have been free from the presence of eels.' This fact has been of importance in connection with the introductioh of trout into Taupo waters, eels _ heing one of the chief enemies of ^ these fish in many waters. The first eel known to have been " caught in Taupo waters in recent ^ years was- caught lat Aratiatia Rapids om May 31, 1931, by Mr. Harry iRiickit, No further eels were observed until January 4 last. On thlat date Mr. Thomas Rickit had his attention drawn , by-some visiting anglers to two «elfl clearly visible in tbe clear water of the Waikato River at Aratiatia Rapids, Mr. Riekit baited a hook with c trout entrails and succeeded in catching one of these eels, and later in the day caught a second eel in the same lodality, while several other eels were seen. I ■Two days later Mr. Harry Rickit visited the spot and caught five eels : on a hook and line, and yet another ( was taken there on January 8 by Mr. ; T. Rickit. All these eels were captured in dayliglbt. Two weeks ago Mr. William Bird, Jun., experimented with , a hinaki, or eel trap, at night, and se- , cured five eels, and on the 4th inst., Messrs H. and T. Rickit took thirteen eels by the same method. Severn! eels have been caught in the same period at Donnelly's Camp, a little further downstream, and one was caught a little below that, at the junction of the Waikato and the Toke stream, (by Mr. Tommy Ra. A Rotorua re■sident caught an eel last year at the bridge over the Waikato, at Waimahana, on the Rotoru>a-Taupo Road. None Above Rapids ' To date no eels have been reported as being caught above the Aratiatia Rapids. One eel has been seen up * river from that point, however. This was a small one, about nine inches- in lengrbh, observed last year by Mr. H. J. Mabbett, of Taupo, near the Department of Internal Affairs' depot, situated on the -eastern bank of the river about a quarter of ia mile below its outlet from the lake. The freedom of the Taupo waters, and of the Waikato above the Aratiatia Rapids, from eels, is subject to the qualifioation that on rare occas■ions eels have been observed. It was a belief of the old Maoris that to see an eel, or to kill one, in the district, was an aitua, an evil omen, and this belief is still expressed by older Maoris. The very existence of such a belief indicates that an oecasional eel might occur in these waters, and emphasises the extreme rarity of that occurrence. I have evidence of an eel being killed in the Waikato at Waotu about fifty years -ago, of another being caught in the Tokaanu Stream at the southern end of the lake about thirty or forty years ago, and of one being seen in the Waikato below the Huka Falls about the same time. The accuracy of the old time Maoris as nature students, eombdned with the fact that they fished the Waikato^ for food supplies such as koura and small dndigenous fishes, and the fact that the tuna, where it occured elsewhere was a prized article of diet, makes it certain that the traditional absence of the eel from these waters was a fact, and not due to lack of observation. Accuracy of Maori Lore The accuracy of Maori lore on the subject is eonfirmed by the fact that until the past three months no Pakeha obServer has recorded seeing an eel in the Waikato near Taupo, nor in the lake or any of its tributary streams. At present it is difficult to explain what is patently an unprecedented occurrence of eels in these reaches of the Waikato. Old Maori belief stated that at Te Aukati, the boundary, the point at Arapuni above which the eel did not go, was a taniwha, a monster whose power prevented the tuna from passing. Taupo Maoris to-da.y explain that the harnessing of Arapuni by the , pakeha has killed the taniwha, allowing free right of way to the tuna. Until further investiga.tion suggests a better, that explanation will serve. Meantime, anglers will await with interest the accumulation of evidence as to whether the ancient freedom of these waters from the eel has or has not disappeared.