Video observation was continued in the 2019 and 2020 fishing years to improve observer coverage of the FMA 1 bottom longline fishery. Footage collection in 2020 was impacted by several operational issues related to new EM systems. Multiple reviews identified that many seabird captures were missed during the first review of the footage. Nevertheless, video observation was effective in increasing observation of the fishery, with 65 seabird captures recorded by video monitoring in 2020.

This project developed a food-web model to explore the potential ecosystem effects of changes to small and medium-sized pelagic fish (including jack mackerels, anchovy, pilchards, sprat, yelloweye mullet, blue mackerel, yellow-tailed scad/kōheru) in the Hauraki Gulf. We found that the response of the ecosystem to changes in the abundances of pelagic fishes depended strongly on the extent to which top predators (seabirds, whales/dolphins, fish) are flexible in their diets.