H—ls

Gisborne.—Of the total quantity landed (10,052 cwt.), 8,507 cwt. was caught by motor-trawlers, of which 6,662 cwt. was snapper and 1,319 cwt. gurnard. A notable addition to the Gisborne fishing-fleet was a steam-trawler, previously operating in the South Island, which fished for the concluding seven months of the year and landed 1,212 cwt. of fish, of which over 71 per cent, was tarakihi and 18 per cent, gurnard. There has been a steady rise in the quantity of fish landed at this port over the last few years, as is shown by the figures below :

Napier.—The annual increase in the amount of fish caught by boats operating out of this port during the last three years was continued in 1946, in spite of the fact that the steam-trawler previously working at Napier has ceased to do so. Out of the total of 22,249 ewt. landed, 19,225 cwt. was accounted for by the motortrawlers, while the one Danish-seine boat landed 2,628 cwt., of which 46 per cent, was gurnard. A fairly large decrease from 1,509 cwt. in 1945 to 342 cwt. in 1946 in the quantity of fish landed by motor-vessels line and net fishing should be noted. The fish mainly affected in this latter method of fishing was groper, which fell from 1,241 cwt. to 158 cwt. The annual totals landed at Napier over the last five years are given below :

Wellington.—A new steam-trawler commenced operations in September, which, brings the number of Wellington steam-trawlers up to three. This addition was largely responsible for the increase in the amount of fish caught by this method, and brought the total of 20,241 cwt. in 1945 up to 25,237 cwt. in 1946. Of this total, tarakihi was by far the largest catch, being 21,043 cwt. One motor-trawler worked throughout the year in comparison with seven months during 1945 and brought the total for this type of trawling from 687 cwt. to 1,532 cwt. The Island Bay line-fishing fleet landed 12,277 cwt., an increase of 2,515 cwt. over the previous year. Out of the total of 12,277 cwt. caught by these line boats, 7,034 cwt. was hapuku and 3,958 cwt. ling. Lyttelton.—The total catch landed was 15,400 cwt., an increase of 3,970 cwt. compared with the 1945 total of 11,430 cwt., which, however, was an exceptionally low figure. Of this 15,400 cwt., 11,528 cwt. came from the motor-trawlers and 3,651 cwt. from the one steam-trawler.

25

— 1942-43. 1943-44. 1944. 1945. 194fi. Total quantity landed Cwt. 7,034 Cwt. 5,275 Cwt. 7,703 Cwt. 8,236 Cwt. 10,052

— 1942-43. 1943-44. 1944. 1945. 1946. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Cwt. Total quantity landed 21,694 16,615 17,865 19,194 22,249 Tarakihi 6,005 4,931 8,966 9,744 11,489 Sole 2,165 914 1,710 1,036 2,746 Hapuku 660 861 986 1,443 378 Gurnard 5,825 4,263 4,621 5,362 5,994