CHEAP FISH.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 100, 3 April 1916, Page 7

CHEAP FISH.

TROUT FFJOM ROTORUA. MINISTER WILL EXTEND SALES, '.'During my recent visit to Rotorua, I made inquiries regarding the trade in fresh and smoked trout, said the Minister for Internal Affairs (Hon 6. W. Russell) the other day. "The Department of Internal Affairs, which controls all the inland fisheries, has two depots for the handling of ihe trout that are netted in the lakes. One depot is at Rorotua aiid the other is at Tokaaiiu, on Lake Taupo. The fish from Tokaanu is sent overland by coach to the Main Trunk railway, where it is forwarded to Wellington. Rotorua has the advantage of a railway connection, and the department is capahle of harvesting a ton of fish there per day. I found that the sup- ! ply was greater than the demand and so have arranged with the municipal authorities in Auckland to take trout for retail sale. 1 want to hring this fish into wide use, with the object, oi doing something to reduce the cost of living by competing with high-priced meat. If the railway reached Taupo, we could send from five to eight tons of trout per day from that lake. "There is now only two months of the present season to run, but during that time I intend to push this work energetically, in order to advertise the 'possibilities of the trout trad: for next season. I hope.then to be in a position to place fresh and smoked trout in every town in the North Island where railway communication is suitable, and I look forward to the time when the Railway Department will see its way to provide cool storage in order to assist the work. The possibilities of the traffic in fresh water fish, drawn from the big lakes of the North Island, are very great and I am having inquiries made with regard to the lakes not yet in use." ] The .Minister added that there seemed to be no doubt trout could be taken from the lakes to the'amount of several tons per day during the season with I advantage to the ordinary fishing. It was well-known that the increase of the fish in Lake Rotorua had been so great that netting had become necessary in the interests of sport, since the fish were degenerating owing to overcrowding. There was a danger of the Si!me thing happening at Taupo. The Department charged 4d a pound for the trout wholesale in Wellington.