H—ls

with 11,018 cwt. for the previous year. The net-fishing boats also showed a decrease from 771 cwt. to 598 cwt. in 1945, mainly accounted for by a drop in warehou from 232 cwt. in 1944 to 109 cwt. in 1945.

Lyttelton. —The total catch landed amounted to 11,430 cwt., valued at £26,764, which is a considerable drop from 16,221 cwt. and £42,527 for 1944, some of which may be accounted for by the fact that the boats were laid up for a month or more due to price negotiations. The main decrease was caused by the motor-trawl figures falling from 10,693 cwt. in 1944 to 7,344 cwt. in 1945, and the one steam-vessel declining from 4,875 cwt. to 3,827 cwt. in 1945. The figures for the main types of fish landed at Lyttelton for the last five years are given below: —

Timaru. —The total fish landed at this port has shown a decrease over the last two years. Some of this may be accounted for by the fact that the boats were laid up for some time due to price negotiations. The annual catches by the various methods of fishing over the last five years are given below: —

Port Chalmers.—No steam-trawler has yet replaced the one which was wrecked in 1944, although a new motor-trawler commenced operating in the middle of 1945. The lack of a steam-trawler has been responsible for the substantial drop in the catches of tarakihi from 3,166 cwt. in 1944 to 173 cwt. in 1945. Of the 25,533 cwt. landed this year at Port Chalmers, 16,260 cwt. came from motor-trawlers and 9,091 from the line-fishing vessels. Of the former, 7,034 cwt. was red cod and 6,282 cwt. sole, and of the latter 7,402 cwt. was barracouta.

The tables for the main types of fish caught over the last five years are given below :

Exports and Imports Imports of fish, for the year amounted to 335f cwt. of tinned fish such as sardines, brisling, and sild, and cwt. of other fish otherwise preserved, with a total value of £5,141. The total value of New Zealand fish and shell-fish exported in 1945 was £187,381, which represents a substantial increase on the previous year's figures of £126,976.

35

— 1941-42. 1942-43. 1943-44. 1944. 1945. - Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. 1 Cwt. Cwt. Total quantity landed 14,287 16,504 14,050 16,221 11,430 Tarakihi 6,440 7,010 4,614 6,202 4,840 Ling 1,703 936 864 1,556 1,447 Elephant-fish 1,322 1,954 2,862 2,611 1,632 Gurnard 532 1,943 2,383 2,537 1,203 Red ood 1,950 1,128 451 191 46

— 1941-42. 1942-43. 1943-44. 1944. 1945. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Total quantity landed 14,055 14,548 15,898 13,022 11,386 Motor-trawling 7,238 7,398 8,517 8,142 7,880 Danish - seining 3,053 2,797 2,508 1,804 1,292 Line-fishing /motor-vessels) 3,763 4,353 4,873 3,076 2,214

— 1941-42. 1942-43. 1943-44. 1944. 1945. • Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Total quantity landed 29,724 33,603 21,523 23,264 25,533 Tarakihi 5,101 2,886 3,361 3,166 173 Sole 6,394 5,410 4,114 4,993 6,282 Red cod 6,952 10,377 4,501 4,033 7,605 Barracouta 5,599 9,878 5,157 6,300 7,502 Flounder 1,516 840 885 1,163 1,366