H.—ls,

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Fog-Siqnals. —The signal at Pencarrow Head has been worked in a satisfactory manner. A signal has been erected at Taiaroa Head, near the lighthouse, and is working satisfactorily, kt the former cartridges are exploded every five minutes during fogs, and at the latter every six minutes. In both cases the automatic signals are controlled by the lightkeepers. Harbours. —The harbours under vhe control of this Department have been maintained in an efficient manner, and the buoys and beacons in them ha\e been kept in good condition. The s.s. " Hinemoa " has attended to most of the buoys, and she has erected new beacons at Tairua. A new beacon, larger than those previously erected, has been built at the entrance to Kaipara Harbour, and has proved t :> be of great benefit to ships visiting that port. The old pilothouse at Pouto, which is occupied by the wife and family of the principal lightkeeper, and which is also used as a post and telephone office, has been repapered, and the chief boatman's house at the same place has been repaired. If a small light was established at Pouto it would be of great service to vessels plying between H?!ensville and the Wairoa River, and I recommend that provision for it be made in the current year's estimates. It could be attendee 1 to by the chief boatman, and therefore the cost of maintenance would only be the cost of the necessary oil, &c. Captain J. C. Smith, who has been Harbourmaster, pilot, and Customs officer at this port since the 18th February, 1880, is letiring from the service on account of age, and Captain D. Savident, master of the barque " Hirotha," who has traded to Kaipara for several years, and is well acquainted with the harbour, has been appointed his successor. Captain Smith has been a faithful servant during the time he has been in the service. The light at the entrance to Hokianga Harbour was not powerful enough to make an efficient light for the port, and a new port-light has therefore been supplied to take its place. A small tower to hold the new light is necessary. An oil-launch has been procured for the Harbourmaster's use, as this was necessary to enable him to carry out his duties properly. The flagstaff at the entrance has been put in good order. At Manukau a new beacon has been erected at Shag Point in the harbour, and some rocks which impeded navigation below the wharf have been removed. Representations have been made by the Harbourmaster that the wharfage accommodation is insufficient, and these representations have been brought under the notice of the Railway Department, which owns the present wharf. At Okarito a pipi-bank which impeded the approach to the wharf has been removed. The work was carried out by Captain Falconer with a party of men from the Submarine Mining Corps of the Defence Department. The bank was blown up by means of gelignite, and the cuirent then washed the material away. The sum of £2,000 is. 3d. has been collected for pilotage and port charges in respect of harbours under the control of this Department, as compared with £1,639 12s. 7d. collected during the previous year. A great many plans of harbour-works have been approved by the Governor in Council, and licenses have been issued for the occupation of sites for wharves and other works. A return showing such works and licenses is appended hereto. Fisheries. —The regulations regarding fish and oysters have been amended on so many occasions that it has been deemed advisable to consolidate them, and this is now being done. The registration and licensing of sea-fishing boats and of boats engaged in taking oysters enables the Department to control the boats much better than v/as possible before the registration and licensing was made compulsorv, and the Department has now information as to the number and tonnage of the boats used which could not formerly be obtained. A return showing the number of boats registered and licensed at the various ports at the end of December last is attached. This shows that the total number registered was 1,085 and licensed 1,068. At the end of the previous year the numbers were 787 registered and 773 licensed. According to reports received from Inspectors of Fisheries there appears to be generally a good supply of fish obtainable. In the Bay of Islands District during the year, flounders, schnapper, rock-cod, hapuka, barracouta, butterfish, and crayfish were plentiful, and in excellent condition. Mullet has not been plentiful; and the Inspector is of opinion that the only way to stop the overfishing and the disturbance of mullet dining breeding-time is to close the canning factories during that period. Enormous quantities of sharks have frequented the bays along the coast of this district. The Inspector considers that the fee for an annual license to take oysters should be increased to £5, as unless this is done the oyster-beds will when next opened be rushed by pickers, who wili soon strip them. He also recommends that each picker should be limited to one sack of oysters per tide, or per day, and that stacking or paddocking should not be allowed. At Hokianga schnapper, mullet, kahawai, flounders, whitebait, and rock-cod have been plentiful. There are eight smokehouses in the district and two canning factories, one of which was closed down during the year. The Officer in Charge of Customs at Kaipara reports that the fishing in that harbour has been about the average during the past year, and that the principal fish caught for the market have been mullet, flounders, and schnapper. There are large numbers of kahawai in the harbour, but as there is no sale for them they are not fished for. Mullet have not been so plentiful as formerly, and very few large fish have been taken. There is a fish-preserving factory at Batley, at which about twenty thousand dozen mullet were canned during the year. Oysters are found in small patchy lots scattered over the rocks in the estuary, but they are not so large or of such good quality as those found on the east coast. It will be advisable to close the beds for a time after the present season. About a hundred sacks of oysters were taken last season.