H.—ls.

FISHERIES. Sir, — 29th June, 1928. I have the honour to submit the following report on the work of the Fisheries Branch and on the condition of the fisheries of the Dominion for the year ended 31st March, 1928. It may be useful at the outset to touch upon the subject of the purpose to be served by such reports and on the features which are essential in a statement on the fishery conditions which is published year by year. The proper administration of the fisheries depends upon an adequate and enlightened knowledge of the facts pertaining to the operations of the industry and to the condition of the natural resources constituting its products. A real understanding of the significance of present conditions can be obtained only by comparison with conditions of the past. Therefore every annual report upon a nation's fisheries should provide data for that analytical and comparative study which some future fishery administrator is certain to make—or desire to make. It follows, therefore, that the subject-matter of most importance consists of the concrete facts as to the resources in question — their productivity in relation to the agents and instruments employed in their exploitation and to all other important circumstantial factors. That aspect of an annual report which regards it as a record of duties done, whereby the staff renders an account of its service and thereby justifies its existence to Parliament and to the public whose servants we are, is a matter of temporary and ephemeral importance. A fisheries report should have a lasting value —a value, in fact, which increases with age, as the conditions of which it is a record recede further into the past. A proper fisheries report, then, must be sound as regards its statistical matter. The present report, though I trust to a less degree than previous ones, is admittedly defective in this respect, and much uphill work lies ahead before our annual statistical statement can be brought to such a standard as to satisfy the requirements above mentioned. The data obtained from different fishing-ports are not at present of uniform standard, and the good qualities of the best of them are lost so far as this publication is concerned because they cannot be blended with other returns in the general tables in which the statistical matter is shown. This year the form of ta.bular statements containing statistical information has been somewhat modified. A distinction is now made between vessels, and also men, engaged in fishing throughout the vear and those whose employment in the industry is only part-time. But we still lack the data to indicate with some degree of approximation the quantities of fish caught in a definite period and with reference to the character and number of fishing-instruments employed. During the last year a scheme has been in operation for obtaining statistical information on the fisheries of the Auckland District by the issue of log-books to skippers of fishing-vessels for the entry of fishing results. This system is being extended to other ports, and in addition an attempt will be made to obtain more frequent returns as to port landings, which should ensure not only a nearer approach to accuracy in the annual totals, but will bring out the effect of seasonal variation. It is possible that legislation may be necessary before satisfactory results can be obtained ; and some addition to the present fisheries staff will be required to deal with the collection and collation of such statistics. A comparison of the figures showing the total quantity of fish landed during the year 1927-28 with those of previous years shows that on the whole the past year has been the most productive year in the history of New Zealand fisheries. Lack of detailed records from past years does not permit of a verv satisfactory analysis of the particular features of the increments, but it is possible to point out some of the factors which have contributed to produce the increased total yield of the fisheries. In the first place the weather all round the coast has been more favourable for fishing operations than was the case during 1926-27, and possibly for some few years previous. The summer and autumn months were especially fair, and the smaller boats benefited by the increased time available for fishing. The figures for the Auckland landings show a very decided increase—134,045 cwt. (exclusive of Thames) compared with 120,128 cwt. (inclusive of Thames) in the previous year. The greater portion of this is due to the increased efficiency of the Auckland steam trawlers, assisted, doubtless, by the fact that the continued fine weather facilitated the exploitation of the relatively virgin grounds off the west coast by a steam trawler operating from Manukau Harbour. The adoption of a new form of trawl (the Vigneron-Dahl pattern), which under certain conditions possesses greater catching-power than the ordinary otter trawl, has also apparently enabled the Auckland steam trawlers to land increased supplies of fish. The Auckland fleet of motor-launches operating the Danish seine have also had better fishing than in the previous season, not only owing to finer weather allowing more time for fishing, but also to an increased quantity of snapper on the grounds which they exploit. These grounds, however, are of relatively limited extent, and until more light has been thrown upon the extent and rate to which natural recruitment by immigration takes place it is advisable in the regulation of this fishery to pursue a policy which inclines to protection, rather than exploitation, of the more confined fishinggrounds. Danish seining, under the present regulations as to mesh of the net, cannot result in undue destruction of undersized fish, and I am convinced that its effect upon fish-food organisms is negligible, but it is a method so efficient in its catching-power that its concentration beyond a certain limit on relatively confined areas must inevitably result in the rapid depletion of the resident stock of fish. The continuance of the policy of limiting the scope of the operation of Danish seines is therefore desirable, but I am by no means in favour of taking steps that would result in their banishment from the Gulf, which would lead to the extinction of the Auckland Danish seining fleet. It may be recalled that the Danish seining method of fishing was begun on the Auckland fishinggrounds late in 1923. Until 1926-27, when one steamer commenced to use the. Danish seine on the Napier grounds with satisfactory results and one or two motor-launches began to operate from Port Nelson, it was confined to the fisheries of the Hauraki Gulf, though some of the Auckland launches

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