The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 1868.

Westport Times, Volume II, Issue 268, 10 June 1868, Page 2

The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 1868.

Tuat a Fishing Company would pay in "VVcstport, as indeed in every port on the coast, there cannot be the slightest doubt; and it is a matter of surprise that up to the present time none of the hardy race that people the coasts of Great Britain and Ireland have been induced to utilise this source of wealth. At Westport conditions are especially favorable, for the bar is available at nearly all times, and there are numbers of steamers constantly coming in that, would, we are sure, gladly give a pluck in, on very moderate terms, to any little fisher craft when the wind was such as to shut out the opportunity of entry. The expense of such an enterprise would be but slight, and the market is amply extensive enough to take more than there is any probability of there being fish enough to supply. The example set by the Ofcagans might with advantage be followed, and there is no doubt whatever, that equal success would attend the venture. Though Duuedin was always well supplied with this commodity, and though barracouta were not only a household word but almost a household nuisance when " three old identities for a bob " was the order of the clay amongst irreverent fishmongers, still till deep-sea fishing was tried many of the most delicate kinds, and the most valuable for culinary purposes were scarce, and in the case of the true sole, unknoAvn. The first small craft fitted out as a fishing boat came home on her first trip loaded with fish of all descriptions, and the harvest of the sea infinitely exceeded the expectations of the most sanguine reapers. Varieties of fish, the very existence of which was not at the time known on the coast, were brought to light, and the experiment was and is a most profitable one. If such is the case in Dunedin where meat is at a moderate price, and where many of the comforts and even luxuries of life are comparatively cheap, how much more would it be a remunerative speculation whore meat is at famine prices, and where our dietary scale is so much more restricted. There is no reason to believe that the waters of the West Coast are less prolific than those that wash the southern extremity of the island, and there can bo no doubt if proper appliances were used that the same success that attended on the adventurous fishermen of Otago would wait on us. An almost unlimited market is open, an easily crossed bar is at the river's mouth, a small expense would settle the question, and if the enterprise was successful, it would alike be profitable to its promoters and advantageous to the public. A proper trawl net, a fitting boat.

and an experienced crew, or captain at least, are all that are necessary to open up another source of wealth to those engaged in it. The constant success that attends line fishermen when they are able to reach the open sea in small boats is a sufficient guarantee that, with proper nets and appliances, deep sea fishing must be enormously profitable to those who may engage in it, besides which, , as in Otago, species that cannot be taken by hook will necessarily fall a prey to the net. There are plenty of fishing grounds near, there is every inducement to go to work without delay ; let us hope either that a party may start on their own account, or that a small company may be induced to venture a few pounds in solving the problem as to the remunerative, or otherwise, nature of West Coast deep sea fishing.