WHITEBAIT FISHING.

Shannon News, 27 September 1927, Page 3

WHITEBAIT FISHING.

'TIME IS RIPE FOR REGULATION.'

"I think the time is ripe for bettei regulations in regard to whitebait,' declared Mr A. S. Hefford, Government Inspector of Fisheries, in Christchurch "All we are hesitating over at present," he added, "is the variation oi conditions of fishing in different part of New Zealand. No fishery is so vailed and complicated as the whitebait one, and what may be quite fair in om river would be totally unjust in an other. What we want is more definite nformation on the subject. We wil have to study the times, the methods, and the intensity of fishing. Anothei important question for investigation i. that of the country in which the white bait flourishes best at all stages of it> l.fe. It has been'found that the fisl. flourishes in swampy, marshy country which in recent years has been diminibhed' in Canterbury by drainage. "We have reached a stage in our investigations when we can at any rate formulate, general principles that should be regarded in connection with whitebait fishing. We are not seeking to regulate the fishery for the sake o 1 regulating it. The real beneficiary will be the fisherman himself, for, with regulation, lie will be assured of a better supply. An analogous ease is that of the game of Rugby, where the rules are made for the good of the game and the greatest number." Asked concerning the extermination of fish considered inimical to whitebait, Mr Hefford said: "Is the trout an enemy to the whitebait. The answer to that is, 'Yes.' But so are other fish, for example, the so-called herring, and, for that matter, the human being."