H.—ls.

The fundamental requirement for the exercise of a wise and just control of fishery exploitation is an adequate acquaintance with and a proper practical understanding of the conditions with reference to the fishery resources themselves and to the agencies concerned in getting and disposing of their products. It is, unfortunately, a fact that a substantial amount of State intervention for the regulation of the operations of the fishery industry has been called for before that adequate acquaintance with and proper understanding of the conditions have been acquired ; and this Department is called upon to make special efforts in order to catch up in the race in which exploitation has so far out-paced and out-distanced conservation. The application of the Industrial Efficiency Act, 1936, to the taking as well as the export of fish was forced upon the Government by the unsatisfactory position, which was tending to become disastrous, that had arisen more especially in connection with the industry in Auckland, to which I drew attention m my last annual report and on which more light is thrown in the report of the Committee above mentioned. There were some cases of profound importance which in the general interest necessitated the administrative control which only the Bureau of Industry had statutory authoritv to apply. Up to 31st March, 1937, the total number of applications dealt, with by the Department was 407 "It was a somewhat illuminating revelation to find that such a large number of units, which were not in °P e -tion on 15th April, 1937, the date when the Industrial Efficiency Kegulation came into force, should be seeking to enter the fishing industry. It demonstrates what a large proportion of fishingboats are occasional, casual, or, at best, seasonal participants in the industry. It is very doubtful whether such a state of affairs is a good thing for the fishing industry or for the general economy of this branch of primary production. The casual, semi-professional, or semi-recreational sea-fisherman has been tolerated or even encouraged in the past, perhaps on the ground that foodproduction is a good thing under any circumstances. For reasons that are obvious, however, this class of fisherman, often a well-to-do member of some other calling, is an undesirable competitor with the professional fisherman who is struggling to make a livelihood. And the administrative attention and labour that these occasional and elusive participants in the industry involve is out of all proportion to their contributions by way of license fees to the cost of administration or to their services to the fish-consuming public. The value of the Department's co-operation with the Bureau of Industry was largely dependent on the work of our newly established section for fishery statistics. In so far as our services in this respect have been satisfactory, the full credit must be given to Mr. Martin, the statistical clerk, who put m a great deal of special work in connection with applications for licenses. At the same time he and his two assistants, Miss Benton and Mr. Christian (cadet), have made notable progress in the collation of data obtained from the fishery returns sent in by the owner or skipper of every licensed fishing-vessel. _ The statistical information in this report, the value of which will be appreciated better if comparison is made with the data that we were able to publish up to a year or two ago, is the production of this section of the Fisheries Branch. Acknowledgment should also be made of the help afforded by the Inspectors of Fisheries and by the members of the fishing industry, most of whom have taken pains m forwarding to the Department the data required. It should be pointed out, however, that the presentation of fishery statistics in the form given in this present report is not regarded as last word on this aspect of the subject, and it is hoped that by next year it will be possible to give statements that will represent with more significance the conditions and trends of the different branches of the industry by showing the production in relation to time duration and other factors affecting the intensity of fishing effort. The following is a summarized statement of the estimated total quantity and value of the principal classes of fishery products for the year :— Quantity. ®^ ue - Wet fish 355,687 cwt. 413,516 Whitebait .. .. .. .. .. 3,111 cwt, 34 843 Oysters (dredged) .. .. .. .. 66.387 sacks 48 125 Oysters (rock) .. .. .. .. 4,203 sacks 5 043 Mussels 7,411 sacks 1,869 Crayfish •• •• .. 12,212 cwt, 11,960 Toheroa (canned products) .. .. .. 48,558 Ib. 4 863 Whale-oil ■■ ■■ .. '280 tons 4^260 Whale fertilizer . . . . . . .. 1q £ ons 3Q Quinnat salmon (netted fish only) .. .. 6,236 Ib. 311 Total value .. .. .. .. , . £524,820 In comparison with the for the previous year each class shows an increase, so far as total value is concerned, with the exception of mussels, toheroa products, and whale products. Wet fish i.e. the ordinary kinds that are caught in the sea by nets and lines—show a decline in total quantity having fallen from 363,128 cwt. in 1936-37 to 355,687 cwt, in 1937-38, a decline of 7,441 cwt, or about 2 per cent. Their total value, however, has risen by 14-7 per cent, above the 1936-37' figure of £360,466 and is the highest recorded since the year 1929-30. Crayfish landings have increased in total quantity by 37-8 per cent, and in value by 52-4 per cent. Whitebait catches are up by about 60 per cent, m quantity and over 90 per cent, in value, The total landings of oysters dredged in Foveaux Strait increased by 5 per cent, over last year's record figure of 63,412 sacks, with a rise of

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