PO TENT! A L/TIES. 3 2 1 



Government embraced a scheme for the partitioning of the entire area into convenient sections, 

 which should be let on lease, by auction, after the manner of the oyster-grounds in Moreton and 

 Wide Bays. The difficulties raised by the decision of Lord Carnarvon recorded in a preceding- 

 page, in the matter of absolute right over the reefs which are only periodically uncovered, at present 

 stand in the way of its complete realisation. A very substantial instalment of the programme 

 suggested might, however, be profitabl3- carried out with relation to the three-mile areas bordering 

 the mainland foreshore, and around every islet and sand-cay of the Barrier system. In the interests 

 of the future welfare and more remunerative development of both the pearl-shell and Beche-de-mer 

 fisheries, it is highly essential that the Government should have supreme control over the entire 

 fishing grounds. This control should be exercised in the reservation of suitable areas, as Govern- 

 ment nurseries for the continual replenishment of the surrounding waters, and in the judicious par- 

 tition of the remaining areas into free public, and leasehold private, fisheries. Unless some such 

 systematic course of procedure is adopted, the pearl-shell fisheries, particularly, will, in the near 

 future, incur the risk of depletion beyond the limits of profitable working, as has happened in the 

 case of the ordinary oyster fisheries of many countries. This highly unsatisfactory condition of 

 affairs, in point of fact, has already begun to make itself felt on the pearl-shell grounds of 

 Endeavour Strait, and of other formerly prolific in-shore fisheries. 



Among the fisheries of the Great Barrier and Torres Strait districts, that are as yet in 

 a relatively latent, or potential, state, those of turtle and tortoise-shell invite brief mention. The 

 edible turtle, Chclonc inydas, abounds throughout the above-named districts, and breeds exten- 

 sively on the sandy shores of the coral-cays and islets. Except, however, for local consump- 

 tion, and for the export of a limited number to Sydney and Melbourne, little or nothing is done 

 with this valuable commercial article. Preserved or dried on the most approved scientific method, 

 Queensland turtle should find an extensive market both in Europe and China ; for in the latter 

 country, more particularly, every description of dried fish or allied product finds a ready sale. Un- 

 precedented natural facilities, moreover, exist, at numberless stations within the precincts of the 

 Barrier, for the institution of large turtle-breeding ponds and lagoons, that might equal in 

 importance the celebrated establishment in the island of Ascension. 



A method frequently employed by the natives of Torres Strait to capture turtle is remarkable. 

 The large sucking-fish, Echenets naiicratcs, which grows to a length of three or four feet, and is dis- 

 tinguished by the natives by the title ot " Gapu," is pressed into the service. The fish is kept 

 alive in water in the bottom of the native canoe, a thin line being fastened round its tail and 

 through its gills. On a turtle being sighted in the vicinity of the canoe, the sucking-fish is thrown 

 out towards it, and immediately swims to and fastens upon its carapace. If the turtle is of small 

 or medium size, it is hauled in by the line, the fish retaining its tenacious hold ; but if it be a large 

 one, a native jumps overboard with a stronger line, and, following the smaller one down, secures 



the reptile. 



s s 



