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The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 61

Fish (cured and tinned)

Fish (cured and tinned).

The valuable information given by Mr. J. Mackenzie and Messrs. Thomson Brothers, of Port Chalmers, Mr. James Rutland, of Picton, and Dr. Hector, which is contained in the Parliamentary Paper H.—15, must lead every one to regret that greater progress has not been made in the fish curing and canning industry. Two facts are beyond question: that our New Zealand seas teem with fish of the most suitable kinds, easily procurable; and that an excellent cured and canned article has already been produced, quite equal in cheapness, quality, and flavour to any importation. To encourage this industry the Government, deeming it of the first importance that a valuable food supply so close to our doors should not be neglected, have a bonus now under offer, which fish-curers in several parts of the colony are most anxious to compete for. Dr. Hector's opinion (Vide his memorandum in Parliamentary Paper H.—15a) is that "the natural wealth of the New Zealand fisheries is as yet almost undeveloped, and the efforts in this direction have been very crude, and entered on without the least regard to the knowledge of the subject which is necessary. The establishment of small fishing communities in connection with fish-curing factories is what is required. . . . The most steady and largest outlet for the fisheries industry would be in canning fish for export on a large scale." But, before Dr. Hector's ideas can be realized, and the industry be established on a large scale in the great centres, the experiment of preserving and canning must be made by persons practically acquainted with it, and at places as near as page 23 possible to the fishing grounds. Suitable buildings, plant, boats, and nets will be needed even for the smallest experiment; and, to begin with, it is far more likely that the experiment will be successful, conducted by a practical fisherman, even if he has to borrow the needful capital, than in a large factory run by capitalists at a distance from the waters where the fish are obtained. The State would therefore act wisely in giving assistance in other ways than that of offering a bonus, to enable the industry to grow up in such a place, for instance, as Queen Charlotte Sound. Let but one good fishing establishment be successfully started in such a locality, and there would be plenty of capital forthcoming to start others. At present a person engaged in the industry on a small scale is terribly hampered by the necessity of paying high interest on advances, and selling his fish through the middleman with his enormous profits. The owner of some fish-curing works, writing to the author of this essay, says, "During this season I have cured 3,000 cases of herrings at a selling price of 10s. per case; but, being under certain conditions for raising money to put up additional buildings to can that quantity, I am forced to accept an all-round price of 7s. per case. Thus, you will see, it costs me 4s. to get them ready for market, 1s. for case, 2s. for profit; while the merchant gets 3s. to 4s. per case for trading. This is where the rub comes in." The same person is sanguine of the success of the industry, and, as a proof of the natural wealth of fish food, mentions that he had seen, during the past season, a patch of herrings two miles long by one mile wide. The State could best help the industry, in a case such as this, by advancing money, at a low rate of interest, upon security of his freehold premises and plant—in the same way as it has frequently been proposed to help the settler to make improvements in his land. It is no wonder that in the past the bonus offered for cured fish was suffered to lapse. It could not, as Dr. Hector shows, be taken up by capital, without special knowledge of the industry; and special knowledge cannot at present, unless the Government steps in to help, obtain the aid of capital except upon oppressive terms.