72 



ON THE FOOD OF THE SALMON IN TASMANIAN 

 EIVERS AND SEAS. 



[By Morton Allpoet.] 



Before leaving the fresh water, in other words, during their parr and smolt 

 stages, the food of the salmon is known to consist of minute molluscs, crus- 

 taceary insects, and their larv?e, and other small insects of still lower organisma. 



I have heard it gravely asserted, by good observers, that our rivers do not 

 furnish as ample a supply of these various creatures as do the rivers of Great 

 Bi'itaiu, and in proof of such assertion it was further stated, that our rivers 

 were but poorly stocked with fish. It is quite true that our fresh water fish, 

 with few exceptions, are very worthless, either as food or for sport, but with 

 regard to their quantity, I have been long convinced that this has been much 

 under-estimated, and will give my reasons. 



The Grayling (our only conspicuous fresh water fish) are gregarious, and, 

 to a certain extent, migratory ; m our large rivers, such as the Derwent, the 

 shoals, containing many thousands of fish in each, are often miles apart, and 

 during summer, lie for weeks together in sharp ripples, unseen except by those 

 who look closely for them, while during winter they rai'ely leave the deep quiet 

 holes. 



The little speckled fish, miscalled trout {Gal axias sp. ?), and some allied 

 species, are found in almost every Tasmanian river I have examined, in incal- 

 culable numbers, even up to their very sources. Some of our high midland 

 marshes, more than 3,000 feet above the sea, send their waters by tiny brooks 

 into Lake Echo, these brooks are alive with the speckled trout and the grey 

 mountain trout. 



On ia hot bright day in December or January a stranger wandering on the 

 banks of the O use, Shannon, Nive, or other large tributary of the Lerweut, 

 would (if he had ever thrown a fly in his life) be as much charmed with the 

 aspect of the stream as disgusted by the apparent absence of fish, an absence 

 so marked that I feel no surprise at the erroneous estimate which many people 

 make of the fish-producing capabilities of our rivers. But let this stranger 

 stand anywhere on the bank of the same river, just after sundown, and throw 

 worms or gentles into the shallow water, a few at a time, at first one or two 

 small fish will make a dart from somewhere, and in ten minutes dozens may be 

 counted coming from under stones, logs, and banks, till the water is dark with 

 them, let him repeat the experiment twenty yards or twenty miles further on, 

 and precisely the same thing will take place. I have many times caught from 

 ten to twenty dozen of these fish in an evening, averaging in weight about 

 18 to the pound, that is to say, from six to twelve pounds' weight of fish in 

 an evening to a rod, and this may be repeated three or four times a week 

 through the summer, say from 18 to 36 lbs. weight of fish per rod per week. 



Having fished in England, Wales, and Scotland, I have quite made up my 

 mind that though there are many rivers in Great Britain in which this could 

 be done, there are many more in which it could not. 



The extreme difficulty of judging accurately tJie fish feeding capabilities of 

 our. streams was forcibly impressed upon me on one occasion during the 

 present autumn. All my hearers may remember that at the point where 

 the Sandy Bay Eoad first reaches the salt water a little brook finds its way 

 into the Derwent after passing down one of the gullies between here and Mount 

 Nelson ; in April last my father and I were crossing this brook, close to a hole 

 in its course, which hole was two feet long, 18 inches wide, and contained 

 water to the depth of three or four inches, the bottom was formed of water- 

 worn stones and pebbles, the largest weighing some six or eight pounds, the 

 stream through was so small as to cause no disturbance, in fact, a mere trickle, 

 and I was therefore surprised to notice a sudden curl in the water as I passed. 

 I stooped down to learn the cause, and on turning over the stones at the 

 bottom found to my amazement that the place was alive with fish. I caught 

 with my hands 18 fish, weighing from two to three ounces each, and still 

 left some behind which eluded my grasp ; these fish were ^ell fed and healthy. 

 When I reflect that this little brook, not more than a mile long in its whole 

 course, and infested by the most implacable eneiny yet known to small fish 

 (I allude to the town boy) is thus stocked, and that hundreds of other brooks 

 are equally well supplied, I am forced to the conclusion that the quantity of 

 food consumed must be enormous, and here is the true answer to those who 

 ' say oui- rivers are not so well supplied with insect life as those of Great Britain ; 

 if the fish xoere fewer the insects would be more numerous. The same reasoning 



