Mar.,1 Correspondence. 171 



Now, turn to the experience of trout anglers who tish our 

 southern streams and take many hundreds of fish, and con- 

 sistently open every one of them and (^xamine their stomachs. 

 These men all admit that in not a single case have they ever 

 found a Blackfish inside a trout. The wife of a hotelkeeper in 

 a prominent trout-iishing district where Blackfish are also 

 plentiful, and who cleans all the fish brought back to the hotel 

 by anglers, also made the same statement to me. 



The experiences of many others who have given this matter 

 long and serious study could be quoted also in support of the 

 above statements. 



To what, then, may we attribute the gradual decline of the 

 Blackfish ? To my mind there are two reasons : — 



(i) Overfishing. Blackfish are simply and easily caught. 

 At holiday times hundreds of men and boys camp alongside 

 the more easily accessible creeks, and in practically every case 

 angling for Blackfish is indulged in, and 99 per cent, of the 

 catch — irrespective of size — goes into the pan. All our native 

 animals and fish readily respond to efficient protection : witness 

 the increase in the number of Kangaroo, Wallaby, and Opossum 

 of late years. It is possible to efficiently protect these animals ; 

 but in the case of the Blackfish it would take an army of 

 inspectors to give them proper protection. 



(2) The second reason for the decline of the Blackfish is the 

 gradual clearing of the banks and beds of the streams to which 

 they are native. The Blackfish loves the shelter and shade of 

 the dark, heavily-timbered holes and the stumps and logs 

 which, in a natural state, fill most of our creeks. As the 

 shelter is gradually removed by the spread of cultivation, we 

 find that the Blackfish also gradually diminish year by year, 

 until finally they become extinct. 



I can only briefly refer to one or two other matters in the 

 article. It is stated that a great many species of " fish in Port 

 Phillip spawn on the bottom." Of all the commoner varieties 

 of fish found in Port Phillip Bay, such as the flounder, mullet, 

 flathead, bream, schnapper, pike, and garfish, the last-named 

 is the only fish that spawns at or near the bottom. All the 

 other varieties have pelagic or floating eggs. 



With many other statements of Mr. Davey I am quite in 

 accord : but I think it advisable that the other side of the 

 question regarding the Blackfish (which is not often heard) 

 should be put before your members. — Yours truly, 



F. LEWIS, 



Acting Chief Inspector of Fisheries and Game. 



Melbourne, 12th February, 1917. 



