FISH BY THE MILLION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 273, 10 April 1913, Page 3

FISH BY THE MILLION.

FEDERAL TRAWLER'S -WORK. NEW VARIETIES DISCOVERED. Sydney, March 29. An investigation just made of the deep eea banks east and south of Australia by the Federal trawler Endeavor reveal's 1 the fact that they are simply swarming with fish life. In the Australian Bight, about SO miles to the south of Eiiela, an enormous bank has been discovered from which millions and millions of edible fish are to be got. The bank is known to be at least 2000 square miles in extent, and its handy position should lead to early exploitation for the South and West Australian food markets. Mr. Dannevig, the Director of Fisheries, says that the Bight fishing grounds are, in their present condition, considerably richer, acre for acre, than those of the North Sea. Whereas in the latter area the average catch for each day's absence from port is 16.2cwt on English trawlers, in the Bight it appears certain than at least one ton may be relied upon for each day's absence from port. During the last cruise in the Bight the Endeavor captured 12cwt of choice marketable fish in eight hours of actual trawling, while the total amount of offal fish taken during the trip did not exceed 6cwt.

Recently the Encounter steamed out to the south-eastern coast of New South Wales, and trawled over the deep-sea bank for 19 hours 15 minutes. The average speed during the trawl was from two and a-half to three miles, so that not much more than 40 miles was covered. Eight hauls resulted in 9214 marketable fish, weighing 11,3711b, being captured, the biggest haul being 20181b in two hours and a-half. This is an unusually good trawl, and as it represents at 3d per lb a £l5O return, it showed that there is at least one way of making money yet to be tried by Australians.

In the midst of an enormous haul of deep-sea flathead, black perch, king schnappers, dog sharks, and prawns made off the Bight grounds, there were discovered 13 healthy, plump specimens of t a variety declared by everyone on board to be a new fish. Scarcely had the knot of observers scattered than another shout brought.them scampering back again. Another fish, equally strange, equally unknown to man, had been found writhing in the trawling The large and more important of the two varieties has a white, flaky flesh, and is unanimously described as "excellent eating." It looks like a cross be tween a jewfish, a tcraglin and a black cod. It has tremendous eyes, like lanterns, useful in deep waters, and a peculiar, torpedo-shaped head. Its singnlar appearance is ascribable to the great depth at which it exists. It has been caught only at the deptli of 130-170 fathoms, and its weight is from 201b to 481b. The other variety is not yet sufficiently studied for Mr. Dannevig to pronounce ' any opinion. Many are the interesting things dis- ' covered about fish by the men of the Endeavor. The story of the dipping and excursions of the continental shelf would alone make a fascinating report. What is regarded as the strangest of all is, however, that of a fish which combines the individual and the egg as methods of reproduction. Some varieties of fish are born infants complete in every detail. Others come from the millions of hardy eggs which float upon the surface of the waters. This new discovery is a perch, which produces its young in enormous quantities as tiny fish. The ovaries of the fish contain more than a million of these peculiar egg-like individual infants.