This project has updated and characterised protected shark and ray fishery captures in New Zealand waters to the 2021 fishing year. Some protected species (whale shark, oceanic whitetip shark, deepwater nurse shark, and manta ray) were infrequently recorded. White shark, basking shark, and spinetail devil rays were more regularly observed and reported and additional analyses were completed to assess trends and factors that may increase risk of capture.

This report details the results of a bottom trawl survey of the west coast South Island in 20–400 m depth and in Tasman Bay and Golden Bay in 10–70 m depth carried out using RV Kaharoa (KAH2103) in March–April 2021. This was the fifteenth survey since 1992 optimised to estimate abundance of red gurnard, red cod, giant stargazer, spiny dogfish, and tarakihi in core strata (20–400 m) and the third survey since 2017 optimised to estimate snapper only in 10–400 m.

This report details an exploration of the decision context for land use change as an adaptation to climate change in the primary industries. This project focuses on the dynamic interactions between values, rules, and knowledge used by decision makers. The aim is to support adaptation planning in the primary industries, by contributing to the evidence base, and enhance capability and capacity for responding to the risks and opportunities due to climate change.

Meeting Details

Meeting Details

Quantifying and understanding current and historic changes in commercial trawl gear selectivity is important for both effective use of CPUE indices, as well as assisting with innovation in fisheries to improve selectivity and reduce unwanted bycatch. This report details the outcomes of a desk-based study of trawl gear information currently available, and a workshop held in June 2019 to determine what attributes should be collected from fishers to better understand trawl selectivity.

This report presents the results of a Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) project looking at a small number of red rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) that were either affected or unaffected by Tail Fan Necrosis (TFN).
The primary objective of this study was the use of NGS to screen for potential infectious aetiological agents of TFN. Several species of bacteria appeared to be statistically significant when examining the NGS results and comparing affected to unaffected rock lobster. However, based on a review of the literature, none of the bacterial species identified were considered likely to be a primary cause of TFN.
Additionally, catch data collected by observers were examined to generate an epidemiological picture of the distribution of TFN. Since not much data specific to occurrence of TFN exists, a data proxy was used, as discussed with members of the rock lobster industry. This data proxy was not found to sufficiently explain the epidemiology of TFN, indicating that more comprehensive and specific data needs to be collected.
Based on these results, we propose avenues for further research.

The study details research on potential for trout to uptake sodium monofluoroacetate (1080) residues following an aerial operation. Brown trout were caught from the Travers River in the Nelson Lakes area 6 days after the operation. None of the 19 trout sampled and tested had levels of monofluoroacetate above the limit of quantification. This study advances the understanding that trout are unlikely to present a food safety risk if eaten after an aerial 1080 baiting operation.

This report details the 2020 in LIN 7WC, using the Bayesian stock assessment method. The Deepwater Fisheries Assessment Working Group chose a base case model to assess this stock that incorporated all relevant biological parameters, commercial catch histories, observer data, market sampling data, and research trawl survey data. Four models were developed to evaluate the sensitivity to various hypotheses regarding natural mortality input values and using different indices of abundance.

A survey of high-density breeding colonies of Westland petrels Procellaria westlandica, an endemic New Zealand seabird, undertaken between 2007 to 2011, conservatively estimated the population size to be 2827 (95%CI, 2143–3510) annual breeding pairs. The population may have been underestimated by up to 10% but is unlikely to have exceeded 4000 annual breeding pairs at the time of this survey. This estimate is the first detailed population estimate for all known breeding areas of this species.

A fact sheet detailing the biosecurity clearance procedures for yachts and pleasure craft newcomers to New Zealand, including the ports of arrival and necessary documentation.

Striped marlin is one of the main target sport fisheries in northern New Zealand. Professional skippers on charter boats have provided striped marlin catch and effort information in voluntary surveys since 1975. Since 2007 private and charter skippers have provided daily records of billfish fishing. Negative binomial GLMs were used to standardise striped marlin CPUE. The annual catch of billfish, yellowfin tuna and mako sharks is described from detailed fishing club records.

The present report details the preparation of data for the estimation of protected species captures in New Zealand commercial fisheries, including data from 2002–03 to 2017–18. Protected species captures included seabirds, marine mammals and turtles. The data preparation included the linking of observer records and fisher-reported data and updates, including changes to the fisher-reported purse-seine effort data, resulting in a decrease in the latter compared with the previous data preparation.