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XIV. Ponui : 727,000 borers and 609 pupus destroyed ; 360 square yards of rock cleared of weed. Cost, £16. XVI. Great Barrier : 1,907 square yards of oyster-bearing rock shifted to better position , 1 439 square yards of clean stone laid down, and 2,233 square yards of mixed oyster-bearing and clean stone laid down 97,500 borer destroyed ; 6,594 square yards of rock cleared of weed. Cost, £86 Bs. ill Areas : 1,907 square yards of oyster-bearing rock shifted to better position ; 24,698 square yards of clean stone laid down ; 2,233 square yards of mixed oyster-bearing and clean stone laid down ; 3,450,857 borers and 3,976 pupus destroyed ; 24 103 square yards of rock cleared of weed and 2,843 square yards cleared of dead shell ; 29 square yards of drift bed formed; 17 square yards of new rock-face exposed by blasting ; 190 pumice-concrete posts transplanted from Kawau to Coromandel and 300 new pumice-concrete posts erected and 10 old posts re-erected. Cost ot labour and material, £829 7s. 9d. Judging from results obtained from similar work previously carried out, the 23,250 square yards of clean stone laid down on a beach m the Kaipara Harbour should yield good mmits when the oysters that are expected to settle thereon come to marketable size. Since the operations of transporting and laying down the new stone were dependent upon seasonal labour there were more difficulties to be overcome in getting suitable employees than usual owing to the increase of steady employment in the district, and the costs of the work were somewhat increased for the same reason The prospects of getting an early and abundant " spatfall " are better here than m most areas, though growth to marketable size is somewhat slow. , . . . ,i it,,™,. Captain Daniel's transplantation experiment, in which oysters bred in Bon Accord, Kawau (where oyster propagation, as in Kaipara, is usually on a more generous scale than average), and carried across the Hauraki Gulf to be planted on the Coromandel side (where oyster-spawning is precarious and sparse but individual growth is good) has been continued with modifications Tis year 190 posts encrusted with young Kawau oysters were transplanted to the Coromandel area and 300 new posts of a similar kind were erected on Kawau beaches. Dredge Oysters. The Bluff fleet of oyster-dredgers showed an increased activity, in comparison with the previous year, during the season (February to September inclusive) of L 936. An additional vessel was in operation for the last five months of the season ; the total number of landings made was increased from 772 to 1,078, and the total quantity of oysters marketed was 63,412 sacks, valued at £39,632, against 49,712 sacks, valued at £31,070, for the season of 1935. _ Exports of fresh oysters from Bluff amounted to 132,236 dozen (equalling approximately 2,200 sacks, or 6,600 bushels), which was less than the 1935 total by 63,878 dozen On the other hand, the export of canned oysters reached the high figure of 331,747 lb., valued at as compared with 172,855 lb., valued at £6,444, for the previous year. Toheroas. The total quantity of toheroas packed during the year at the two canneries m North Auckland was 104,9361b., and the export statistics show that 32,9791b. was exported during the sanie perio , both figures being substantially higher than those for the previous year (75,288 lb. and 24,83b lb. P The extensive areas of toheroa-beds on the Ninety-mile and North Kaipara beaches are reported to be well maintaining their stocks except in proximity to roads and holiday camps. The more southern beds, which are naturally less extensive and generally more accessible appear to have depreciated in the last few years. The amount of protection that the Department has been able to give them up to the present does not seem to be sufficient to ensure conservation m the face of the growing popularity of the toheroa as a food and the increasing numbers of motor-cars that visit the beaches. It has been suggested that the present limit of fifty that may legally be taken per person per day is too high, and it may be necessary to reduce this limit, at least in some districts. _ ihe necessity of more attention on the part of the Department is indicated not only m regard to ranging, but also in connection with surveys of available stocks so that a knowledge of their adequacy or inadequacy in relation to exploitation may be obtained m time to ensure that suitable measures for conservation may be taken. , , , So far as is possible, with our limited staff and many duties over a wide area, we have endeavoured to keep the various toheroa-beds under periodical observation, and the marine biologist has continue to collect occasional data in this connection. A study of the food and of the reproductive phenomena has also made some progress. The beds in the Wellington Province have naturally received most attention and would appear to need most attention since a remarkably small proportion of young toheroas is found among the stock. The indications are that good years for reproduction are few and far between in this area. Whitebait. Comprehensive information concerning the whitebait fishing throughout the Dominion is impossible to obtain under present conditions, but a summing-up of the season as the worst on record for most places appears to be closely m accordance with the facts in regard to the year 1936.

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