Description
A trawling expedition undertaken on behalf of the Government during the autumn and early winter months of 1900. The object of the expedition was to make an experimental survey of the coasts of the New Zealand, especially in the neighbourhood of the more thickly populated centres, to ascertain what extent of trawling-grounds existed, what varieties of marketable fish were obtainable in the different localities, to prove whether the conditions necessary for carrying on successful trawling existed in certain localities within workable distance of the best markets; and, if so, to place the information on record for the guidance of those interested in the trawling industry; and generally to acquire information on the distribution of food-fishes, etc., in the sea surrounding these Islands.
To carry out the experimental trawling operations the Government chartered the steam-trawler "Doto" owned by B. A. Petersen and Co., of Napier. The "Doto" was originally built for a steam-yacht, but was subsequently bought by Captain Nielsen, for Messrs. Petersen and Co., in Sydney and taken over to Napier, where she was fitted out and used as a trawler. She is a composite vessel of 28 tons gross register, 66 ft. in length, 12 ft. beam, draught 6 ft. 6 in., and fifteen horse power nominal. The vessel was fitted with the otter-trawl, which while quite as effective can be much more easily and quickly put down and picked up than the beam trawl, and is therefore altogether better suited for the short tows required for experimental work.
Data Records
The data in this sampling event resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 154 records.
1 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.
This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.
Versions
The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.
How to cite
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
Ayson L F, Mackay K (2025). Experimental trawling off New Zealand, 1900. Version 1.1. Southwestern Pacific Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) Node. Samplingevent dataset. https://nzobisipt.niwa.co.nz/resource?r=nz_experimental_trawl_1900&v=1.1
Rights
Researchers should respect the following rights statement:
The publisher and rights holder of this work is Southwestern Pacific Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) Node. To the extent possible under law, the publisher has waived all rights to these data and has dedicated them to the Public Domain (CC0 1.0). Users may copy, modify, distribute and use the work, including for commercial purposes, without restriction.
GBIF Registration
This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 9fe33bf1-7c71-441d-b241-765f2d65bef6. Southwestern Pacific Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) Node publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by Ocean Biodiversity Information System.
Keywords
Samplingevent; Observation
Contacts
- Originator
- Inspector of Fisheries
- Metadata Provider ●
- Point Of Contact
Geographic Coverage
Coastal waters of New Zealand
| Bounding Coordinates | South West [-47.186, 167.426], North East [-39.778, 175.177] |
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Temporal Coverage
| Start Date / End Date | 1900-03-10 / 1900-06-07 |
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Bibliographic Citations
- AYSON, L. F. 1900: Report on experimental trawling (1900, New Zealand). Government Printer, Wellington. 1900. 17 pp.
Additional Metadata
marine, harvested by iOBIS
| Purpose | Results obtained at different Localities. In Pegasus Bay and off Banks Peninsula good results were obtained, both with regard to the character of the bottom for trawling and supply of fish. The net was picked up at No. 2 Station off a rocky bottom near Motonau Island; but with that one exception the bottom at all the other trawling-and sounding-stations was either sand, soft sand, or mud; while market fish were plentiful and of good quality. This area being well sheltered and close to Lyttelton Harbour should be a profitable trawling-ground. A ready market for large quantities of fish would be found in Christchurch, the inland towns, and among the shipping at Lyttelton. From Banks Peninsula to the Waitaki River there is a considerable extent of good trawling ground. Shingle banks, however, exist at intervals, extending from close inshore out to 20 fathoms. Beyond the 20-fathom line the bottom, as far as tested, was soft sand, broken shell, and mud. These stony banks are probably formed by the stones and shingle brought down by the four large rivers that flow into the ocean along this range of coast. By reference to the map it will be seen that a large area of sand bottom was found off Timaru, this, although good trawling-bottom at the time it was worked, yielded only a moderate supply of the best market fish; it is probable, however, that at some other season good fish may be plentiful. From the Waitaki River to Moeraki light we found an uneven bottom. Shingle banks exist off the Waitaki and at intervals south to Oamaru, with patches of sand bottom between. These shingle banks extend from the shore out to in places 20 fathoms, beyond that depth the bottom was similar to what we found further north, being soft sand, shell, and mud. To the south of Oamaru reefs exist with a considerable extent of sand bottom between. Even where good bottom was found very few fish were taken in the trawl-net. Uneven bottom was found from Moeraki to abreast of Waikouaiti—soundings taken showed the bottom in places to be sand, but when the net was put down it soon got foul of rooks. In Blueskin Bay .and to the north of the Otago Peninsula an even sand bottom was found with fish fairly plentiful. In Blueskin Bay flat-fish were taken in considerable quantities. Owing to unfavourable weather, both going to and returning from the South, very little work could be done off Taieri Beach and in Molyneux Bay. In Toitoi Bay the gravelly bottom extends well in shore, but a good piece of trawling-bottom was found off the mouth of the Mataura River with fish in considerable quantities. Riverton Bay has a considerable extent of good bottom with flat-fish plentiful. There are, however, patches of gravel, and rocks exist well into the bay. The result of our operation in Tewaewae Bay were eminently satisfactory. Splendid even bottom was found wherever soundings were made or the net was put down, while large quantities of flat-fish were taken at every haul of the net. Soles were particularly plentiful, also a considerable number of flounders and turbot. The survey made of the bays and inlets round Stewart Island shows that the extent of trawling-grounds round the Island is limited. Soundings made showed an uneven bottom, patches of sand with rocks jutting out here and there. In Mason Bay a sand bottom was found, but the net came up at every haul full of weed and with very few fish. Although Cloudy Bay was not, owing to bad weather, as carefully prospected as was intended, the results obtained from what we were able to do were satisfactory. Good bottom was found all over, with fish fairly plentiful. In Tasman and Golden Bays rough bottom was only found at one station (136). A mud bottom was found all over out to the line of sounding- and trawling-stations from D'Urville Island to off Farewell Spit. The best hauls of fish taken during the cruise were made here, while our best market fish were well represented, including flounders, soles, John dory, hake, gurnard, schnapper, moki, tarakihi, and oysters were taken up in the trawl-net in different parts of the bays. The bad weather experienced, and the short time available, owing to the expiration of the charter of the "Doto" prevented Wanganui Bight and the coast south to Kapiti Island from being properly tested. |
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| Alternative Identifiers | 9fe33bf1-7c71-441d-b241-765f2d65bef6 |
| https://nzobisipt.niwa.co.nz/resource?r=nz_experimental_trawl_1900 |