H.—ls.

Atlantic Salmon. For the 1932 hatchery operations at Te Anau the usual rack was constructed across the Upukororo River. Its completion was delayed till Ist May by a succession of small freshes, and a pound net was in operation during April. After the beginning of May no floods were experienced and most of the salmon that were taken came up on a slight rise of the river in June. The lake and rivers remained exceptionally low throughout the season, and probably for this reason no really good run occurred. A number of salmon as well as trout entered the river early in August and could be seen in large numbers in the deep holes not far from the river-mouth. A few spawned below the rack. Those taken in the trap in August were above the usual size, averaging about 7 lb. with one 15 lb. fish. They were not very satisfactory for hatchery purposes, however, giving many infertile eggs. It is probable that delayed spawning was the cause of this infertility. The numbers of fish taken for stripping were as follow :—

The number of ova taken was 325,000, of which 14,000 were infertile. 311,500 fry were hatched out, of which 158,000 were liberated in the Eglinton River and tributaries and 153,500 in the Upukororo River and tributaries. The condition of the fish appeared to have improved in comparison with previous years. This is reflected in their greater egg-production. The average number of eggs per female in 1930 was 2,791, in 1931 it was 2,295, and in 1932 the average rose to 3,611. Moreover, the fry hatched out were a particularly vigorous lot. After consultation with the officers of the Southland Acclimatization Society, to which bodv we are indebted for much of our information about the Atlantic salmon fishing and for the enforcement of regulations, the policy has been adopted of concentrating for the present upon the stocking-up of the Upukororo River (which had undoubtedly suffered depletion during the last five years) and the Eglinton River. This latter has for some time received limited runs of salmon, wanderers from the Upukororo stock, but it has a larger volume than the Upukororo and appears to have the character of a better salmon river. The recently constructed road up the beautiful Eglinton valley has now provided easy access to the river which facilitates stocking operations, and will later, it is hoped, provide the angling tourist with good fishing in a most congenial environment. When these upper waters are adequately stocked it is proposed to concentrate upon the stocking of the tributaries of the Waiau which enter it below the lakes, and so afford an opportunity for the increase of sea-running salmon which at present evidently constitute but a small proportion of the whole stock. During the 1932 trapping operations three salmon tagged after stripping in 1931 were recaptured. The particulars are as follows : —

* This fish lost its tag while in the pound and before it had been weighed and measured. It was described as " a long skimpy fish." The weights in every case are of the fish after stripping. These recaptures show, as in previous cases, that Te Anau salmon make very little additional growth after the attainment of maturity, which, apart from other evidence, is an indication of fresh-water feeding which, while producing quite rapid growth up to first maturity, is inadequate for the building-up .of both flesh and sexual products in later life. Fresh-water Fisheries. Except in connection with salmon-stocking and with certain aspects of the many-angled problems of the whitebait fishery, the Department has but slight direct contact with the fresh-water fisheries of the Dominion, though responsible, under Part II of the Fisheries Act of 1928, for their

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Males. Females. ' Total. April .. .. .. 4 2 6 May .. .. .. 23 22 45 June .. 56 44 100 July .. .. .. 9 13 22 August .. .. .. 14 9 23 Whole period .. 106 90 j 196

Liberation. Recapture. Date. Length. Weight. Date. | Length. Weight. in. lb. in. lb. L. 94 18/6/31 ..24 4 -/8/32 25J 5£ L. 160 5/8/31 .. 24| 5 -/»/32 * * L. 163 5/8/31 .. 24f 5 ~/ 8 / 32 25 5