f1.—15

11

Akaroa. —Fish are plentiful on the extensive lishing-grounds round Banks Peninsula, but owing to the want of cool storage and the poor facilities for getting fish away to Christchurch and other markets these grounds are not made use of as they might otherwise be. There were sixteen boats licensed and fishing, employing twenty men, and the quantity of fish taken was 55 tons, valued at £1,004, and 400 sacks crayfish, valued at £200, making a total of £1,204. Rangiora. —The catches of fish during the past year were equal to the average of previous seasons. The number of boats licensed and fishing was fourteen, employing eighteen men. The quantity of fish caught is estimated at about 3f tons, valued at about £359. Southbridge. —The Inspector reports that fishing in Lake Kllesmere has been poor during the year. Fishermen attribute the scarcity to the outlet of the lake being blocked at the season when the fish are making inshore. The number of boats licensed was eleven, employing twenty-two fishermen. Lyttelton and, Sumner. —The small boats have had a good season. Altogether there were twenty-one boats licensed and fishing, employing thirty-four fishermen. The quantity of fish brought in from the local fishing-grounds is estimated at 705 tons, valued at £13,066. Kaiapoi. —Whitebait and flounders are the principal fish caught, and they have been taken in fair quantities. There were forty boats licensed and fishing, employing forty-five fishermen. The quantity of whitebait taken last season was estimated at 8 tons, valued at £896. Altogether in the Christchurch district there were 102 boats licensed and fishing, employing 149 fishermen, while the number of persons otherwise employed in connection with the fishing industry may be estimated at about fifty, making a total of 199. The quantity of fish brought in from the different fishing-grounds is estimated at 771f tons, valued at £14,525. Timaru.—The Collector of Customs reports as follows : " Hapuku, a good supply from November to April; soles, a good supply throughout the year; flounders, a fair supply; barracouta, a good supply from March to May; kingfish, a good supply; ling, medium supply; red cod, plentiful. The number of boats licensed was twenty-one, employing thirty fishermen, and eight others are employed in connection with the sale and handling of fish. The quantity of fish of all kinds brought in is estimated at 3 tons a week, or a total of 156 tons for the year, and the value of the year's catch is estimated at £3,000." Otago District. —The district Inspector says in his annual report, " The past year has without doubt been an extremely satisfactory one for those engaged in the fishing industry. With the exception of the months of May and June the weather-conditions were favourable, and catches both by the trawlers and linemen have been above those taken for many years. The supply of flat fish has been unusually good during the months of July, August, September, and October. Very large numbers of soles were taken. During July and August the catches were almost all the common sole and of a large size, but as the season advanced and trawling was carried on at a greater depth more lemon-soles were taken." The number of fishing-boats licensed and engaged in fishing was 110, and the number of fishermen employed was 232, while the total number of persons employed in various ways in connection with the industry was about 357. Three steam trawlers and three oil-engined vessels were engaged in trawling throughout the year. The total weight of fish carried by rail from the different fishing-ports for the year ending 31st March was 2,963 tons, and it is estimated that over and above this quantity 200 tons are sold locally, making a total weight of 3,163 tons brought in from the fishing-grounds off the Otago coast during the year. The wholesale value of the fish is estimated at £50,578. There is one fish-canning factory in Dunedin, where crayfish, whitebait, and oysters are canned in their season. Southland District. —The Inspector at Bluff reports as follows : " The season has been a good one, fish being plentiful, and weather-conditions having been unusually favourable, large catches have been made." The oyster-men report having visited all the known Foveaux Strait beds. The oysters are plentiful and in good condition. The number of fishing-vessels licensed and engaged in fishing and oystering was 105, including four steam trawlers and four auxiliary cutters, employing 149 fishermen. The total quantity of fish brought in is estimated at 21,564 cwt. Of this quantity 7,983 cwt. was exported, and the balance, 13,581 cwt., was disposed of in the Dominion. The total value-of the catch for the year is estimated at £29,706. The quantity of oysters brought in from the Foveaux Strait beds last season was 32,839 sacks, valued at £16,123. 4,347 sacks were exported to Australia, and 28,492 sacks were disposed of in the Dominion. In the Invercargill district the number of fishing-baats licensed was thirty-five, employing fifty fishermen, while twenty-six were employed in other ways connected with tho fisheries. The quantity of fish brought in was 15 tons, valued at £730. Rock-oyster Beds. —During the year I made an inspection of all the oyster-beds in the Hauraki Gulf, Kaipara, and Bay of Islands, and all the inlets as far north as Parengarenga. In the Hauraki Gulf the beds are extending satisfactorily. This is due to the replanting done by the Department and strict protection. The beds replanted on the Coromandel coast since 1909 and islands in the Thames Gulf are improving very well. In Te Kumu and Manaia Bays there is now a fair quantity of oysters ranging in ages from this season's fixing of spat to six-years-old mature oysters, and all the other replanted beds are showing equally satisfactory results. On Waiheke, Ponui Island, and other parts of the gulf beds there has been a poor "fixing" of spat for several seasons in succession, and in consequence of this the quantity of oysters which can be taken for market will have to be reduced in proportion. Tho beds at the Bay of Islands are in a similar condition to those in the Hauraki Gulf: there, too, there has been a poor fixing of spat for several seasons. Since February a large quantity of drift oysters have been collected