Download FAR 2025/20 The 2024 stock assessment of red rock lobsters (Jasus edwardsii) in CRA 4

Rudd, M.B.; Webber, D.N.; Starr, P.J.; Roberts, J.; Pons, M. (2025). The 2024 stock assessment of red rock lobsters (Jasus edwardsii) in CRA 4. New Zealand Fisheries Assessment Report 2025/20. 139 p.

The red rock lobster (Jasus edwardsii) supports the most valuable inshore commercial fishery in New Zealand. This fishery has been managed with catch quotas in 9 Quota Management Areas (QMAs), which are usually treated as independent populations or stocks.

This document describes a stock assessment of red rock lobster in CRA 4 up to the 2023–24 fishing year. This stock assessment suggests that CRA 4 has experienced periods of biomass peaks and troughs over the time series modelled and has been increasing towards a peak for the past decade. This pattern has likely been driven by variability in recruitment and catch rates. Projections suggest the stock may hit a peak in biomass over the next 5 years.