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An analysis of the certificates issued during the year, with the corresponding figures' for 1944-45, is given hereunder : Class. 1945-46. 1944-45. Service — First-class Engine-driver .. .. .. 8 10 Competency — Extra First-class Stationary Engineer .. .. 2 First-class Engine-driver .. .. 30 38 Second-class Engine-driver .. .. .. 234 199 Locomotive and Traction .. .. 57 62 Locomotive-engine Driver .. .. .. 7 5 Traction-engine Driver .. .. 15 16 Electric-tram Driver .. .. .. 116 93 Electric-tram Driver (One-man Car) .. 9 7 Steam-winding-engine Driver .. 2 1 Electric-winding-engine Driver .. .... 2 480 433 Appended to this report is a statement of the number of candidates examined at •each examination centre for the year ended 31st March, 1946, showing the number of successful and unsuccessful candidates. STAFF During the year under review the effort of the staff of the Marine Department, •entailing as it did a quick change-over from wartime to peacetime economy, has been -a meritorious one, made more arduous by the difficulty in obtaining casual employees and by the retirement of executive officers of the Department. In the latter category, Mr. B. W. Millier, Acting Secretary to the Department, retired on superannuation after over forty years' meritorious service. Appreciation of his lifelong work was conveyed at meetings of his associates and shipping interests. At the latter end of the year Messrs. G. E. Breeze, Chief Surveyor of Ships and Chief Inspector of Machinery, and A. E. Hefford, Chief Inspector of Fisheries and Director of Fishery Research, also retired on reaching the age limit. To these officers also is conveyed appreciation of a long and splendid record of service to the Department in particular and to the community in general. FISHERIES An abridged report on the working of the Fisheries Branch of the Department follows hereon. I have, &c., W. C. Smith, Secretary.

REPORT ON FISHERIES FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1946 At the outset of this report it must be made clear that all the statistical data is for the calendar year 1945. This follows the practice adopted in 1944, for reasons given in last year's annual report, and it has been found that the adoption of the calendar in place of the financial year has overcome many difficulties of tabulation, bringing, as it does, the licensing year and the statistical year into line. As this report is mainly composed ■of statistics, with the balance of the text based on the figures, it becomes in effect a fishery report for the year 1945, although it is incorporated in the departmental report, which is for the year ending 31st March, 1946.

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