H.—ls.

has hitherto been but slight in comparison with the vast intensity of fishing that has been going on for half a century or more in the European seas. That European fishing-grounds have been depleted is evident from the fact that greatly augmented efforts, by way of longer fishing voyages and the employment of more efficient fishing-gear, are necessary to enable supplies to be maintained at a level approximating to the quantities of former years ; and the quality (the sizes of fish caught and the proportion of the more valuable fish in the total catches) has very definitely declined. As the result of intensive fishery investigations carried, out by international collaboration the facts of the condition of the fisheries in the North Sea and neighbouring areas are thoroughly well understood. The relation between natural production (by spawning and growth) and artificial abstractions (by fishing operations) has been elucidated by research. So far as the known fishing-grounds off the coasts of New Zealand are concerned it is agreed by all who are acquainted with the facts that as the result of fishery operations the fish stocks are deficient in comparison with former years. In the absence of statistical records, and in view of the very limited amount of special investigational work that has been carried out with regard to our fisheries, it is not possible to indicate what degree of deterioration has been reached up to the present, nor precisely what relation the fishery factor bears to the other (natural) factors affecting the existence of the marketable fishes that constitute the natural assets of the fishing industry of New Zealand. So far as I am able to judge, concerning the history of the New South Wales trawling industry, the impoverishment of the fishing-grounds has been accelerated by the excessive catches of fish that were aggregated on spawning-grounds and by the excessive destruction of undersized fish, both undesirable effects of trawling which are not easily obviated. Unless developments at present unforeseen take place there is no reason for fearing that occasional visits of Sydney trawlers may affect the conservation of our trawl fisheries so long as our visitors confine their operations to waters outside the three-mile limit, where they have as much right to fish as any one else. The erroneous impression is held by many people that trawling is illegal inside three nautical miles from the coast, but this is not the case so far as New Zealand trawlers are concerned, though trawling is prohibited in certain inshore areas in the Hauraki Gulf, the Bay of Plenty, Hawke's Bay, and off parts of the Canterbury coast. So far as my own knowledge goes, the best trawling-grounds off these coasts are within three nautical miles of land, and certainly a large proportion of fish landed from trawlers is obtained from these inshore grounds. The depth of water increases very quickly towards the open sea, the 100 fathom line lying no more than about ten or twelve miles from the land off most parts of the East Coast, except where there are definite bays. At a comparatively short distance from land, therefore, the water is too deep for ordinary trawlers to operate, if indeed the fish are there to induce them to work at such depths. Out of the total of fifty-five trawlers that fished regularly out of New Zealand ports during the past year thirty-nine are small oil-engined vessels incapable of working in more than about 40 fathoms and confining their operations to depths generally between 10 fathoms and 30 fathoms ; and of the sixteen steamers only three would at present be capable of towing a trawl in depths of more than 60 fathoms. In the Atlantic Ocean trawling is carried on in water of over 200 fathoms depth, and the same might be done here if catches could be made to repay for the additional power required. Whether fish are to be found in payable quantities beyond the grounds that have hitherto been exploited must remain for the present an unsettled and doubtful question. While New Zealand's fleet of large trawlers remains at its present low number there would appear to be no reason for the imposition of further territorial restrictions on this method of fishing. There is, however, an essential need for keeping all fishery ojjerations under the closest observation possible by maintaining truly statistical records of catches and by extending our present exiguous understanding of the biology of the more important fishes. Such information is essential as a basis for fishery regulation to ensure that our resources may be utilized rationally to-day and preserved from irremediable impoverishment for the future. In view of the weakness of administrative machinery it is a fortunate circumstance that the relatively low demand for fish in New Zealand has in the past placed a limit to the degree of exploitation to which our sea-fishing grounds have been subjected. New South Wales, with its greater capacity for consumption and with the urge of unsatisfied demand, listened too readily to those who talked of the " boundless resources " of the ocean, confined its administrative attention to harbour, lake, and river fisheries and neglected to study trawl-fish stocks and the conditions on the trawling-grounds. Under similar circumstances it is more than likely that New Zealand would have made the same mistake to the same degree. The question of the day as to whether the fishing industry in New Zealand is making as much profit out of its fish as it might do is of less urgent importance from the point of view of national economics than the question as to whether we are not already drawing too heavily on our sea-fishery resources to the detriment of their future well-being. Exports. —It will be seen from Table V (p. 34) that the total value of exports of New Zealand fish and shell-fish (£121,903) shows a very considerable increase over the corresponding figures (£98,417) for the previous year. The quantities in the principal classes of exports for the last five years have been as follows :—

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1930-31. 1931-32. 1932-33. 1933-34. 1934-35. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Frozen fish .. .. .. .. 17,678 14,098 19,584 34,738 46,714 Fish smoked, dried, pickled, or salted . . 1,128 638 521 1,243 1,968 Potted or preserved in tins — lb. lb. lb. lb. lb. Oysters .. . .. .. 15,079 69,479 51,620 128,028 95,270 Other kinds 97,063 112,186 103,186 384,282 184,148