230 FISHES 



The marketable value of these fish for the three years named was 

 1865, 1513, 1217. 



So that out of those two lakes there have been taken in these 

 three years 213,467 fish weighing 23 2| tons. 



To still further keep up the fisheries and to renew the stock 

 already in the lakes the Rotorua Hatchery has sold or distributed 

 within recent years, 3,330,000 ova and 1,896,000 fry. 



With the object of improving the condition of the fish some 250,000 

 native shrimps (Xiphocaris curvirostris) were caught in the Waikato 

 River in 1908, and were liberated at suitable places in the lakes. In 

 1909 another 185,000 were liberated, and another large quantity in 

 1912. Since the Department of Internal Affairs took charge of the 

 fisheries, 280,000 shrimps have been brought from the Waikato and 

 placed in Lake Rotorua, and a further 110,000 in Lake Taupo; all 

 in sheltered places. I question very much whether this expensive 

 mode of feeding the trout has any permanent value. If the shrimps 

 are placed in waters to which trout have no access, but from which 

 they can escape into the trout-frequented areas, then they might form 

 a permanent food supply. Otherwise they will simply be eaten up as 

 quickly as they are liberated. Some more scientific method of feeding 

 and of conserving the food supply should be adopted. 



Mr C. Chitty of Cambridge (according to Mr Jas. Drummond, 

 Aug. 1914) says that in the Waikato, the native grayling used to ascend 

 the river in thousands every spring. They were not seen after 1875, 

 though the mullet continued to ascend. He blames the rainbow trout, 

 but as a matter of fact these fish were not introduced into the Auckland 

 district before 1883. 



* Mackinaw Trout; Great American Lake Trout 

 (Salmo (Cristivomer) Namaycush) 



In 1906 Mr L. F. Ayson at the request of the Tourist Depart- 

 ment brought a case of eggs of this species from America. They 

 were hatched out at the Christchurch Society's Hatchery, and 4000 

 fry were liberated in Lakes Pearson and Grassmere. Another lot of 

 4000 were taken over to the west coast, with the intention of placing 

 them in Lake Kanieri, but Mr Jas. King of Hokitika reports (July, 

 1916), that owing to the carelessness of the curator then in charge 

 of the hatchery they were all lost. Those in the Canterbury lakes have 

 been caught by anglers during the last two or three years. Mr E. F. 

 Stead, writing in April, 1916, says: 



The Mackinaw Trout are apparently thriving in Lake Pearson, as several 

 have been caught weighing about 10 Ibs. As the lake is but little fished, 

 this would indicate that there must be a fair number of these fish there. 



