The fishery for blue cod in BCO 5 (Foveaux Strait and surrounding sea) is the largest blue cod fishery in New Zealand. Within its boundaries it has a commercial pot fishery in four Statistical Areas (025, 030, 027, 029) plus a sizable recreational fishery in Statistical Area 025.
Fishery management is based on setting a catch quota for BCO 5 that is based on combining the results from three independent stock assessments for Statistical Areas 025, 027+029, and 030.
The stock assessments use a blue cod abundance series based on catch per unit effort (CPUE) from the commercial fisheries. Statistical Area 025 also has an abundance index based on a pot survey completed every four to five years.
Since the catch quota was reduced following the 2019 assessment, there have been spatial shifts in fishing effort into near-pristine blue cod habitat. This change biased the CPUE series and the blue cod age composition in assessment units 027+029 and 030. Consequently, CPUE series for assessment units 027+029 and 030 were rejected by the Inshore Working Group.
The assessment results for blue cod in Statistical Area 025 were accepted by the Inshore Working Group, but rejected by the Fisheries Plenary.
FAR 2024/56 Stock assessment of blue cod (Parapercis colias) in BCO 5 using data to 2023
Type
Report - Fisheries Assessment Report (FAR)
Published
Last updated
