H.—ls

REPORT ON FISHERIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1945 I have previously emphasized that statistical material must be not only the skeleton but the very flesh and blood of an annual report on fisheries if it is to be of real value". The reporting, however, involves the prior collection of data in the form of returns of catches landed during the full'period by individual vessels at the various ports, followed by their tabulation into suitable summaries, before the information can be digested and studied. This necessitates inevitable delay in commencing the annual report, especially under prevailing limitations of clerical staff and equipment. In this report the usual tables of statistics have been collated from returns for the calendar year, Ist January to 31st December, 1944, instead of from Ist April to 31st March of the following year.' Thus they contain the figures relating to the last quarter of the last official year. The statement which follows gives the estimated total quantity and value of the principal classes of fishery products marketed in the year 1944 :— Quantity. Value. Wet fish .. .. .. .. .. 308,237 cwt. 522%54 Whitebait .. .. .. .. .. 6,172 cwt. 46,084 Oysters- 107,070 Ib. 6,513 Dredged.. .. .. .. .. 63,949 sacks 47,961 Rock •• •• ■■ .. 6,386 sacks 9,579 Mussels 15,390 sacks 6,080 Crayfish .. .. .. .. .. 13,850 cwt. 22,970 Toheroa (canned products) .. .. .. 107,0701b. 6,513 Whale-oil .. .. .. .. .. 440 tons 14,000 Quinnat salmon (taken by selling-licensees)— By eleven rods .. .. .. 1,398 lb. \ ... By one net .. .. .. .. 423 lb. Total values ~ .. ~ .. (jyg 2s| The detailed returns are summarized in Tables I to lie (pp. 30 to 35). The total landings of wet fish show an increase of 13,792 cwt. over the previous year's total of 294,445 cwt. The total value has increased by £33,686. The total for dredged oysters from Foveaux Strait has declined by 9,170 sacks, and an increase of 558 sacks is shown for rock ovsters. The crayfish total is up by 3,001 cwt., and the mussel total down by 1,351 sacks. On the face of it, that would appear to be a healthy enough indication of the state of our fisheries. However one needs to look further. One needs, also, to have an insight into other facts than can be gathered from the statements set forth in the rest of this report in order to get a true picture of the economic condition of the Dominion's fisheries. It seems necessary, therefore, to make brief reference to some fundamental points. Confining consideration to the class " wet fish " —i.e., all the ordinary fishes caught by all methods or fishing in the sea we find that the annual totals for successive years are as follows : Year - Total Quantity. Total Value. Cwt. £ 1934-35 331,415 294 267 1935-36 363,448 313!106 J 936-37 363,128 360,406 1937-38 355,687 413,516 1938-39 356,114 424 643 1939-40 339,231 416 ,'4BO 194041 328,594 440.308 1941-42 326,863 * 458,393 1942-43 311,971 442,976 1943-44 294,445 489,268 1 044 308,237 522,954 That record, with a steady and substantial rise in values over the last ten years, looks quite good at any rate from the selling angle : not so good from the point of view of the buyers. If we look at the quantitative aspect we see that supplies reached a maximum for the years 1935-37 which was maintained without any substantial decline—no more than might be ascribed to variation due to natural causes— until the outbreak of war. Since 1939 there have been conditions arising from the war which have had ette . ct 04 diminishing fish landings—abstractions of men and of vessels from the fishing fleets, some restrictions on where and when fishing operations might be carried on, difficulties about the supply of fishmg-gear, engines, spare parts, &c., which have all tended to a reduction of fishing power and still more of fishing time. All this goes some way towards explaining the smaller total landings of the war years and providing an explanation of the substantial increase in the monetary value of the fish between

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