I just saw Peter Langland's facebook reference to garfish - and it reminded me of these local recollections...
A
great sport for the youths was Garfishing at night from the little wharf. A
long handled net of bird-wire dipped into the water to catch the fish that came
seething up to a low-held storm lantern. Maoris from the Pa, also, at certain
seasons, came in dog carts, then, removing their pants, waded into the shallow
water near the big wharf and, armed with gorse-slashers, attacked the Dog-fish
which were so thick at these times, had to be seen to be believed. I believe the
Maoris dried them for future use. They filled their dog carts anyway. As light
hearted children on our way home from school, we threw stones in among these
great shoals of Doggers, just to see them collide with each other as they
darted away from the stone. [1]
Then there were the rig (young shark).
They
used to come in their thousands through the heads of Lyttelton Harbour … Those
fish used to follow [a trail] and it came right through up to the flats in the
Allandale area and the flats of the Teddington area. The local people knew when
it was happening … they could tell by the number of sea birds that were
clouding the sky above the approaching shoal of rig. There were so many
thousands of them coming up that they pushed the ones in the front right up onto
the shoreline and that’s when all the locals … rushed down with clubs and
anything that could hit the fish on the heads with and kill them …There were so
many of them piled on the beach that they used to go to Jesse Allan’s, who was
the local postmistress and had the one and only telephone, and they would ring
through to the one and only [telephone] at Rapaki and the Maori people
immediately came round with horses and carts and they would fill up the carts
with the rig because the rig bypassed the Rapaki Bay.[2]
The Rapaki
Maori would smoke the rig. “Smoke would pour from Rapaki for days afterwards.
My father used to laugh and say that every blowfly, bluebottle in Canterbury
flew over the hills to Rapaki to feast on whatever was lying around from the
filleting of the fish.”[3]
Head of the harbour residents would also smoke or salt the rig.
