Fish Mysteries

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 542, 20 December 1928, Page 1

Fish Mysteries

Danish Scientists to Investigate the Gulf FOR N.Z. GOVERNMENT During the lliree weeks the Danish scientific ship Dana is in Auckland she will carry out important investigations in and around the Hauraki Gulf on behalf of the New Zealand Government. An attempt will be made to discover the distribution of the young schnapper in the waters beyond the Auckland Harbour, and also to discover the small fish and minute sea animals upon which the large fish feed. The spawning ground of the swordfish will also be investigated if possible, and the habits of the common sprat, which may form a future sar-dine-canning industry for New Zealand, will be looked into. Professor Johannes Schmidt, leader of the expedition, has spent a lifetime studying fish and their habits, and much of the work which will be done by the Dana has never before been done in New Zealand waters. The ocean currents off the East Coast will be studied in order to supplement what is already known regarding migratory fish and their habits. Definite arrangements regarding the investigations have yet to be made after consultation with Mr. A. E. Hefford. Inspector of Fisheries, who has arrived in Auckland to meet the scientists on the Dana. •

On her way to Australia the Dana will carry out scientific investigations in the Tasman Sea. Professor Schmidt will continue his study of the habits of the New Zealand eel. He solved the mystery of the European eel, and stated yesterday that this fish leaves the European waters and goes into the Atlantic Ocean, near the West Indies, to spawn. The young eels then travel back to Europe, taking as long as three years to find their way back to the fresh water.