The travel outlined in the paper Proposed Overseas Travel Hon Damien O’Connor did not occur due to COVID-19

Using GPS tracking data obtained from yellow-eyed penguins since 2003, habitat models using the maximum entropy method were developed. Main factors determining habitat use were bathymetry, seafloor sediment composition, and colony distance. Acceptable model outputs were generated for North Otago and the Otago Peninsula as well as northern Stewart Island and Codfish Island. No adequate data were available for the Catlins, the eastern Foveaux Strait region, and southern Stewart Island; extrapolation from other regions proved unreliable. Habitat use maps are presented.

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.

This report provides a five year update of a recreational effort and catch monitoring programme, covering the 2014–15 to 2018–19 fishing years. Digital camera traffic monitoring and interviews with fishers returning to high traffic ramps in FMAs 2, 7, 8, & 9 have been used to track relative catch and effort trends, which are compared with and scaled to 5 to 6 yearly NPS and aerial-access total harvest estimates, for species that are commonly landed by recreational fishers in each area.

In this report, five criteria were used to identify which species future research into recreational release mortality should focus on. The four highest priority species were: snapper, blue cod, kingfish, and kahawai. Relevant national and international published studies that have investigated the relative incidence and possible causes of recreational release mortality for these species are reviewed, and experimental methods are proposed, to further investigate this issue.

This report compares recreational harvest estimates provided concurrently by two alternative survey methods: a national panel survey and an aerial-access survey. Statistical comparisons of spatially and temporally disaggregated harvest estimates provided by these surveys have identified some minor potential sources of bias, but the impact of these biases on the accuracy of the estimates provided by either survey appears to be acceptably low.

This report describes methods used to electronically groom and characterise Amateur Fishing Charter Vessel – Activity Catch Return (AFCV-ACR) data. Fishery characterisation outputs are provided for the 2010–11 to 2018–19 fishing years and can be updated using the R scripts provided to Fisheries New Zealand. Charter boat operators were also surveyed about their experience with the current reporting system, and their responses are also summarised in this report.

Three independent stock assessments using a Bayesian age- and sex-based model were done for Statistical Areas 025, 027, and 030 and these were combined afterwards to produce the stock status for BCO 5. The current spawning stock biomass (SSB) is 36% B0. At the current catch, the projections show the chance of the SSB being over 40% B0 at 29% in 5 years, and 30% in 10 years. Projections using 80% of the current catch result in a 54% chance of being above 40% B0 in 5 years, and 69% in 10 years.

Oospores of Phytophthora agathidicida are formed in the roots of New Zealand kauri. The infected roots are capable of initiating the progression of kauri dieback. Research has found that heating moist soil to 50C for 72 hours, across all soil types will effectively eliminate P. agathidicida oospore viability. Further research is required to test whether moderate temperatures can kill oospores in infected kauri seedlings while maintaining seedling viability.