H—ls

REPORT ON FISHERIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1947 Attention is drawn to the fact that all fisheries statistical data in this report is for the calendar year ended 31st December, 1946. The estimated total quantity and value of the principal classes of fishery products marketed in the year 1946 are as follows : Quantity. Value. £ Wet fish .. .. .. .. 380,321 cwt. 660,096 Whitebait .. .. .. .. 6,578 cwt. 73,674 Oysters— Dredged .. .. .. .. 89,356 sacks 67,017 Rock .. .. .. .. 5,103 sacks 8,933 Mussels .. .. .. .. 10,568 sacks 3,687 Crayfish .. .. .. .. 16,766 cwt. 30,801 Toheroa (canned products) .. .. 69,043 Ib. 4,567 Whale-oil .. .. .. .. 700 tons 21,000 Total values .. .. .. .. £869,775 The detailed landings are summarized in Tables I to IX (pp. 36 to 46). The total landings of wet fish show an increase of 48,548 cwt. over the previous year's total of 331,773 cwt., while the total value has increased by £101,692. The quantity of oysters dredged from Foveaux Strait has increased by 13,318 sacks, and a decrease of 373 sacks is shown for rock oysters. The crayfish total is up by 842 cwt., but the mussel figures show a decline of 2,588 sacks. In the most important group, the " wet fish " —i.e., all the ordinary fishes caught by all methods of sea fishing—the annual totals for successive years are as follows : Total Quantity. Total Value. Year. Cwt. £ 1934-35 .. .. .. 331,415 294,267 1935-36 .. .. ..363,448 313,106 1936-37 .. .. .. 363,128 360,406 1937-38 .. .. .. 355,687 413,516 1938-39 .. .. ..356,114 424,643 1939-40 .. .. ..339,231 416,480 1940-41 .. .. ..328,594 440,308 1941-42 .. .. ..326,863 458,393 1942-43 .. .. ..311,971 442,976 1943-44 .. .. ..294,445 489,268 1944 .. .. .. 308,237 522,954 1945 .. .. .. 331,773 558,404 1946 .. .. .. 380,321 660,096 The total weight of wet fish, 380,321 cwt., is the highest for many years —this result is even better than I predicted in last year's report. The good result is attributable to divers causes : (1) the return of several large catching units after war service ; (2) the re-engining and replacement of many vessels after the war ; (3) exceptionally fine weather on many of the fishing-grounds during the period of seasonal congregation of some of the more important types of fish. Fishing-vessels and Personnel The number of licensed fishing-vessels operating in 1946 was 797, an increase of 76 over last year —some of these are first-class modern units and have done much to boost the total production figure. Of the"more important units, steam-trawlers increased by 1 ; motor-trawlers increased by 14 ; Danish-seine boats decreased by 2, which became motor-trawlers ; vessels engaged in both trawling and line fishing increased by 8. A total of 1,550 men were engaged in fishing, either whole time or part time, during the year. The full details of these changes are shown in Table I.

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