year, says an official report.

Fishermen have worked harder catching other species, it says, landing Bermuda's biggest catch of wahoo since records began.

The Fisheries Department report also says fishermen are staying at sea longer and spending more time actively fishing.

But it expresses surprise that fishermen are showing "little inclination'' to try new fishing methods.

The report was released yesterday by Environment Minister the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto.

She said she was pleased the new figures showed the level of food fish landings was being sustained, with a minimum harvest of reef fish.

But she said a more complete picture would emerge when the figures, provided by 156 of the 195 registered boats, were compared with statistics collected by divers.

Fisheries director Mr. John Barnes admitted the report revealed a 17 percent rise in landings of "miscellaneous reef'' fish in 1992 compared with 1991.

But he said the "miscellaneous reef'' category included fish that were not true reef-dwellers.

One of these was the turbot, which could also be found in the open ocean.

Catches of turbot, or grey trigger fish, went up 82 percent in 1992, accounting for almost half the "miscellaneous reef'' catch.

The catch of parrot fish, the colourful reef-dwellers loved by divers, went down 14 percent.

Mr. Barnes said fishermen had helped maintain the overall level of landings by catching more open-ocean species like wahoo and tuna.

The fish pot ban would seem to be still working, he said.

The Commercial Fishery Catch and Effort report says the total fish catch in 1992 was 933,688 pounds, compared to 937,887 in 1991 and 996,825 in 1990.

"The overall fish landings reported in 1992 were virtually unchanged from those reported in 1991,'' it said.

"This may be accounted for by an apparent stabilisation of the fishing industry at a new level following the fish pot ban.'' Most effort appeared to be expended on traditional methods, mainly hook-and-line fishing.

The food fish catch went up to 816,372 pounds in 1992, compared to 812,776 in 1991 and 846,692 in 1990.

"Catches of most true reef fish were maintained at a level where the landings may be considered incidental.'' The grouper catch went down 18 percent, and jacks 29 percent.

But 23 percent more open-ocean fish were caught, with the 1992 wahoo catch beating the record set in 1990 by more than 12,000 pounds.

The industry's total hours at sea increased by eight percent.

The report adds: "Perhaps surprisingly, there has been very limited development of alternative or exploratory fisheries.

"Fishermen are showing little inclination toward expending any effort in non-traditional methods such as vertical lining, surface longlining and deep water crustacean trapping.

"Despite limited data, there continues to be some promise that these areas of diversification may eventually become specialised fisheries in their own right, each capable of supporting a small number of operators.

"For example, local markets have been developed for deep water crabs and this product is now regularly available as a local delicacy.''