H. 44.v

Line-fishing : Set-lines and Long Lines. Otago and South Canterbury. Set-lines (long lines) are mainly used by the fishermen at Timaru, but their use is not confined tq this port. The evidence was to the effect that, although this form of fishery was not so destructive as the dan line, there should be some limitation on the number of hooks per line. Nelson. The line-fishing at Nelson as done by the professional fishermen is in the main long-lining. The lines carry six hundred to seven hundred hooks and are operated on grounds within roughly forty miles of Nelson in depths of 10 fathoms to 40 fathoms. Most of the line vessels in use are small, and they are not really fit to work so far off shore as is necessary to reach grounds on the 40-fathom line. Snapper is the main fish, with groper for about two months in the year, and a few gurnard. Catches have declined greatly since the seine boats commenced operations. Ten years ago the line boats could fish within a six-mile radius of the port and make a decent living. To-day they have to go up to forty miles distant from the port, yet only eke out a bare existence. Lack of storage for bait is a serious problem for the line-men, as they are forced to spend considerable time catching bait when conditions are unsuitable. To exploit the more distant grounds, such as off Farewell Spit, larger and more seaworthy boats are necessary, but none of the line-fishermen are able to arrange the necessary finance. Napier. A number of vessels operating from Napier use long lines solely, and some of the trawlers and seiners use this method of fishing in addition to the methods for which they are mainly fitted out. The main fish caught by the line boats are groper and snapper ; at times tarakihi is also landed. The lines used carry from one hundred and fifty to two hundred hooks, and four to six lines are set —approximately eight hundred hooks. Bait is readily procurable in Napier at lfd. per pound. The inshore fishery is not so good as it used to be, but oil shore the stocks appear to be standing up to the abstractions. There are, of course, the usual fluctuations from year to year —the seasonal variation with each species, and fluctuations due to the effect of the weather. The grounds used by the line-fishing boats are comparatively small. Up to two years ago fish could be caught on the lines anywhere in the Bay, but latterly the radius of operations has had to be extended to within twenty miles of Port Ahuriri. There is some loss of gear, but it is not excessive. Gisborne. The long-line method of fishing is carried on by five boats at Gisborne. The lines carry from one thousand to one thousand six hundred No. 5 to 6 hooks on 16 lb. line, one thousand hooks being the most common number in use. The fishing-grounds used are between Table Cape and Gable End roughly twenty-eight miles each way from the port. The main fish landed is hapuka, but snapper, and trumpeter are also caught. Last season the catches of hapuka. were poor, but it was considered that this was due to a bad season and not to depletion of the grounds. No hapuka under the legal size of 2 ft. are caught on these grounds. Whakatane and Tauranga. At Whakatane there is one full-time long-line-fishing vessel and at Tauranga there are five. The lines carry one hundred and fifty No. 7 or 8 hooks, and three to six lines constitute a set. The main fish caught are snapper and tarakihi, with an odd hapuka. Each line costs approximately 17s. 6d. when completely assembled. Catches have declined considerably in the last ten years, and the blame is attributed to the operations of the Danish seine boats. Most of the men previously engaged in line-fishing have now abandoned it or changed over to part-time fishing, they having been unable to obtain a reasonable living at this occujaation. Mercury Bay. Long-line fishing is carried on at Mercury Bay and Waihi Beach. At Mercury Bav sixteen to twenty lines each carrying one hundred and seventy hooks are used per set. Each line is made of No. 43 thread cotton tanned, and costs 13s. 6d. The men used to make the lines from trawl twine but found that the tanned cotton gave much better results. The principal fish taken is snapper,' and there has been a considerable decline in the landings within the last seven years. The grounds extend for thirty miles on each side of the port from Whangapoua to Whangamata. At Waihi Beach the set consists of eight lines totalling two thousand six hundred hooks. Here the men use 11 lb. trawl twine to make the lines. Some of the vesssels use hand-lines in addition to the Ion" lines, but the returns from this method of fishing are now so low that it has been abandoned except for use when waiting to lift the long-line gear or when the weather is not suitable for long lining. Auckland. At Auckland very few of the vessels use long lines. The depletion of the inshore grounds and the large quantities of fish brought in by the seine boats have made it unprofitable to operate long-line boats, although fish caught by this method can be landed in better condition than fish caught in the power-drawn nets. Further, when long lining is used there is no destruction of undersized fish.

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