· (No. rn,) 1882 TASMAN I A. HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY. FISHERIES OF- TASMAN I A: REPORT OF ROYAL COMMISSION. Laid up--o~ the Table by the Premier, and ordered by the House to be priDted, October 31, 1882. -~ .Approximate Expenses in~urred by the Commission •••••••·••• 80 Approximate Coat of printing ... , ., .. , , •• , , •• , , , ......... , • • 175 ROYAL COMMISSION ~rHE FISHERIES OF TA.SM A NIA., REPORT THE C O M M I S S I O N E R S, TQGETHER WITH Gcueml and Critical Obsen·ations on tlie Fislteries of tlte Colony; Classified Catalo91te of all tfu; known Species; Abstract of tlte J1inutes of Proceedings of tke Commission.; Evidence tak.~,­ b~fore Comrnissi<Juers ; Statistics, !5"c. ~as11iania: WILLIAM THOl\IAS STRUTT, GOVERNMENT PRINTER, HOBART. 1883. VICTORIA, by the Grace of Gon of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the ~F'aith. To Our trusty and well-beloved CuRzoN ALLPORT, Esquire; the Honorable CHARLES HAMILTON BROMBY, Member of the House of Assembly; W1LLTA:M ALGERNON GuEsDoN, Esquire; RICHARD FRANCIS IRVINE, Esquire; ROBERT MACKENZIE JOHNSTON, Esquire; ROBERT CARTWRIGHT READ, Esquire; ALEXANDER RrnDOCH, Esquire, Member of the House of Assembly; MATTHEW SEAL, Esquire; JoHN SwAN, Esquire; ALEXANDER GEORGE WEBSTER, Esquire; and HARDWICKE WEEDON, Esquire. GREETING: WHEREAS we have thought it expedient to appoint a Commission to enquire into the Fisheries of the Colony of Tasmania, the· Laws relating to the preservation of fish both in coast and inland waters, and to what extent (if any) the Fisheries of the said Colony have been or are injuriously affected by sea-fishing within Tasmanian waters by vessels from other Colonies, and to report thereon for the information of His Excellency the Governor on or before the thirtieth June next : KNOW YE that We, reposing great trust and confidence in your fidelity, discretion, and integrity, DO, by these presents, authorise and appoint you, or any five or more of you, to inquire into the Fisheries of the Colony of Tasmania, the lawR relating to the preservation of fish, and to what extent the l<'isheries of the said Colony have been or are injuriously affected by sea-fishing within Tasmanian waters by vessels from other Colonies, and to report thereon for the inforll!ation of His Excellency the Governor on or before the thirtieth day of June next: AND Our will and pleasure is that you, or any five or more of you, upon due examination of the premises, Do, on or before the thirtieth day of June next, or within such further time as We may in that behalf appoint, certify to us in Our Exeeutive Council in Tasmania aforesaid, in writing under your hands and seals respectively, all and every of your several proceedings by force of these presents, together with what you shall find touching or concerning the premises aforesaid, together also with all such suggestions respecting such matters as aforesaid as you may think fit to be made : AND we hereby command all and singular such persons as you shall judge necessary within Tasmania aforesaid that they be assistant to you and each of you in the execution of these presents. IN TESTIMONY whereof \Ve have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent, and the Public Seal 01 Our Colony of Tasmania to be hereunto affixed. W1TNESS Onr trusty and well-beloved Sm GEORGE CuMINE STRAHAN, Knight Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Governor and Commander-incChief iii and over the Colony of Tasmania and its Dependencies, at Hobart, in Tasmania aforesaid, this thirtieth day of January, One thousand eight hundred and eighty-two. GEO. C. STRAHAN. By His Excellency's Command, WM. MooRE, Colonial Secretary. (Seal of the Colony.) WE will and command that the within-written Commission shall continue in full force and virtue until the thirty-first day of August next, anything in the said Commission contained to the contrary notwithstanding. I:.-. '.l.'ESTIM0NY whereof We have caused the Public Seal of the Colony of Tasmania and its Dependencies to be hereunto affixed. Dated the twenty-ninth day of June, One thousand eight hundred and eighty-two. GEO. C. STRAHAN. By His ·Excellency's Command, -wM. MooRE, Colonial Secretary. (Seal of the Colony.) GOVERNMENT NOTICE. No. 129. Colonial Secretary's Office, lst May, 1882. THE Gi:>vernor has been pleased to place the names of the under-mentioned gentlemen on the Royal Commission appointed to enquire into the Fisheries of the Colony :-Messrs. Charles Torrens Belstead ; Edward Daniel Swan. · By His Excellency's Command, W. R. GIBLIN, fo1· Colonial Secretary, absent. lV REPORT. To His Excellency Srn GEORGE CuMINE STRAHAN, Knigltt Commander of the Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael rmd Saint George, Governor ana Commander-in- Cltief in and over the Colony of Tasmania. MAY IT PLEASE YouR ExcELLENCY. WE, the Members of the Royal Commission appointed on the 30th January last to enquire into the Fisheries of the Colony of Tasmania, the Laws relating to the preservation of Fish, and to what extent the Fisheries of the said Colony have been or are injuriously affected hy sea-£shing within Tasmanian waters by vessels from other Colonies, have the honor to report to Your Excellency as· follows:- Since our appointment we have held forty-one meetings,-at Hobart, Launceston, the Salmon Ponds on the Plenty, New Norfolk, and Bridgewater-and we have altogether personally examined thirty-two witnesses. We have also prepared tabulated enquiry circulars which were forwarded to eighty-three persons throughout the Island who from their special or local knowledge were in our judgment best fitted to give or procure reliable information on all matters relating to Fish and Fisheries in their neighbourhood. 'rhese circulars have been well responded to, and they contain i'n many instances valuable suggestions, which are treated of under the various classified sections of this Report. We have also derived much advantage in our enquiries in being able to consult the following Reports, &c. ; viz. :- 1. Report of the New South Wales Royal Commission to enquire into the actual state and prospect of the Fisheries of that Colony. 2. Report of the New South V\T ales Oyster Commission of 1877. 3. Various yearly Reports of Inspectors relating to the Sea and Inland Fisheries of Great Britain and Ireland. 4. Parliamentary Paper, House of Assemhly, Tasmania, 1873, No. 80, "History of the Introduction of Salmonidre into Tasmania," by Mr. Morton Allport. We have specially to mention the excellent Report of the Fisheries Inquiry Commission of New South Wales, whose mode of enquiry seemed to us to be &o admirably arranged that we have thought it best to follow their example as closely as the special nature of local enquiries would admit. One of our number (1\fr. Johnston), at our request, has most willingly placed at our disposal the manuscript of a paper prepared by him for the Royal Society of 'l'asmania, entitled " General and Critical Observations on the Fishes oi Tasmania, with a complete Catalogue of all the known Species." This manuscript has been of .considerable service to us in conducting our enqni1·ies; and as it exhaustively treats of one of the principal divisions of our Report,-viz., "Our Fishes,"-we have thought it better to append it to this Report as a special amplification of this important division. This arrangement also gives us the advantage of eliminating frorn the general remarks matters which, though of great importance as regards the natural history of £shes, are only indirectly related to the main objects of our enquiry. Obviously, in matters of inference which lie beyond simple and direct observation, the opinions of witnesses examined are often conflicting: occasionally, too, we may have to make allowances for the expression of opinion where self-interest is immediately concerned ; but, u pan the whole, we have to acknowledge that there is a wonderful unanimity of opinion among the many witnesses examined upon all matters coming more directly within the scope of ordinary experience and simple observation, some of which matters have an important bearing upon the most vital questions affecting the future of the fishing industries of Tasmania. Fishes undergo so many changes from the stage when the ovum is voided or deposited up to the fully developed condition of the mature individual, that it is only the most intelligent who can mark them ; and those whose interest it is to specially protect the fishing industry are often, by ignorance of the natural history of our most important market £shes, the principal agents in accomplishing the impoverishment or the total destruction of the sources of their own inrlustr_y. :. For example : Althol).gh the mature individuals of such an important market fish as the Silver , ;Bae;tard Trumpeter (Latris Forsteri) are in a great measure naturally protected by the depth of water and the limits of the more injurious modes of capture by man, yet the young fry of the same species naturally seek the upper shallows for food, and possibly as protection from their natural enemies. ~Jn. this stage, however, they• are very unlike the adult form, and are, moreover, exposed to_ a new --danger which ,is difficult for them to escape, in the shape of the destructive seine net. Left to natural , :~_nemies, and to less barbarous modes of capture, .the sources of our principal market fishes would not, as at present, be almost wholly destroyed where the seine net is freely employed. · From considerations of this kind it must be _apparent that, as the necessary foundation _of any practical enquiry, we should study something of the natural history of the fishes which form our market supply if we would hope to effect any practical good in the direction of development and protection.