SARDINE FISHING

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 616, 19 March 1929, Page 12

SARDINE FISHING

EXPERT FROM ADRIATIC

TO WORK IN WAITEMATA The habits of the sardine are well j known to Josep Kuljm, a young Greek. All his life he has been associated : with sardine fishing in the waters of the Adriatic, at Vis, the centre of the j sardine canning industry there. lie has come out as an expert to the ; New Zealand Marine Products’ Sj indicate, which proposes to establish an industry in sardines at Auckland. Mr. F. S. Petrie, one of the members f of the syndicate, stated this morning i on the Ulimaroa that Kuijis will spe- j cialise in gathering the fish. After years of experience Kuijis knows when to put the nets into the j water. By sounds on a line which is dropped overboard lie knows whether the shoal of sardines is coming to the j top of the water or whether it will j stay below, how deep the water is and j what kinds of fish have touched the j line. Kuijis is also an expert in the eon- i dition of the fish and knows exactly j the best time for catching them. Mr. Petrie explained this morning I that the whole of the first year s opera- j : tions in Auckland will be spent in test- | I ing samples of sardines which have j S been netted in order to find out the ■ \ right time to fish for them. Kuijis explained through his inter- i preter, Mr. Petrie, that the tests were j of paramount importance, as the nabits of the sardines, dates of maturing, and so on had to be determined carefully. From what he had been told he was satisfied that climatic conditions in Auckland were a long way better than in Europe. . _ ••Ho will go out right away, said Mr. Petrie. ‘‘JET© is primarily an expert on determining the 'tonnage of fish from an examination of the shoals. E\ erv factory requires from 10 to 15 experts, in various branches of the work, so we i have by no means yet got together a complete staff.” Kuijis is only 30 years of age, but he has been on the fishing grounds of toe Adriatic all his life, and is a member of a very old seafaring family. Tor the past 15 years he has been a “lightman”—that important member oi a sardine-fishing crew who superintends the working of the powerful beam which shines into the depths of the sea and .attracts the fish. “In the Adriatic fishing fleets we use three boats and from 16 to 24 men to , a net,” he continued. “The season lasts i from six to seven months and very often the fleet is at sea the whole seven months without securing more than from five to ten barrels of sardines. But on one occasion one net caught 1,250 barrels of sardines —over a million and a quarter fish. It was gazetted as the biggest haul ever caught in the Adriatic. Twenty-four boats were filled, but we could not handle the lot. Many were cast overboard, and the smell that followed when they were washed up on the beach caused trouble for some time. Kuijis was met this morning by Mr. Petrie and Mr. P. Tlicli ,who arrrv~ JT New Zealand some time ago. Messrs Kuijis and Ilich greeted each Other with marked affection, for they had been boyhood chums m then town on the Adriatic and had been parted for many years.