ACCLIMATISATION.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2670, 9 June 1894, Page 3

ACCLIMATISATION.

Sib,—"Live and Let Lire" in your issue of Tuesday, I regret to see, goes out of his way to attack a man who has done great good in acclimatisation in South Canterbury, in order that he may have a fling at " game laws" which do not exist in this " free land." As a sport, all the game law I know of is that if a man with a gun is found on any other man's land " without permission " he is liable for trespass. And quite right too, for a colonist's "home (land) is his castle." But this by the way. What I wish now to point out to "Live and Let Live" is that both he and the Hon. the Minister quite missed the point of Mr A. M. Clark's question to the Hon. John McKenzie. The question was the netting of fish (mullet, flounder, trout, etc.) "in i our rivers," and the answer given by the Minister showed that, unlike his great ; confrere, the Hon. the Premier, he was very ignorant of his subject. To throw ' the rivers open to netting in the way the ' fishermen want themselves, would mean ' the total destruction of both native and \ imported fish in the short space of five : years. I will be asked, How is this? ' •The short answer is plain and com- '• prehensive the netters, unlike the '■ acclimatisation societies, would net all ■ the year round, in season and out of : season, and fish of all sizes would be ' killed. It is a well-known fact that the "natural" increase by fish is so very small that the present supply, Urge as it is would last no time, unless the fish were " protected" by those laws which « Live and Let Live," and the few who hold with him, hare such a great dislike to. A case in point has come under my notice in Timaru. Flounders (native name, I think, patiki) are now so Bcarce here that tho fishermen cannot make a living. The reason of this scarcity is ** over-fishing," due to the hauls made in previous years during the months of November to February, when the flounder Jiugs the shore to find suitable spawning beds. In this connection I present Mr JMcKenzie gratis with the suggestion •that he should now make a game law in the interest of the net fishers by declaring flounders protected during the mouths named, as is done in that great colonial home of best fishery—Tasmania. The societies recognise the fact of «supply." To do «o means plenty of fish in our rivers ; to neglect it means Bt»ight-out abolition. The net-men to gain their ends would carry the latter, and would be the very first to run to the Government for funds to purchase a new stock. For my part, I would go in for far more close seasons and protection. Fur, fish, and feather are harassed too mnch, and in this young colony we should " bank up," not " discount," the (future. I will close by expressing the Ihope tfcat our Minister will look at the question ot netting from a colonial standpoint—weigh well the issues: (1) VVill the colony benefit most from rod-fishing (with its, to my mind, legitimate restrictions), or (2) from wholesale netfishing, from which no adequate revenue can be derived to keep up the stock of all edible fish ?—I am, etc., FAIBPiAY. .Timaru, June 7th, 1894

TO THE EDITOR,