The silver warehou stock assessment conducted in 2023 is described. The assessment was ultimately rejected by the Fisheries New Zealand Deepwater Working Group. The data inputs and model assumptions are described. The main problems encountered, concerning stock structure, CPUE, age data, and model specifications, and their possible solutions, are discussed.

The study investigates cryptic mortality (i.e., deaths that are not observed) of seabirds in New Zealand’s trawl fisheries, separately for net captures and warp cable strikes. For net capture-related mortality, the results suggest that, on average, mortality was 2.5 times higher than when only based on observed captures. For warp strikes, estimates varied based on data sources, highlighting the need for tailored data collection due to uncertainties and sparseness in the current dataset.

The Spatially Explicit Fisheries Risk Assessment framework has recently been updated and applied to assess the fisheries risk to seabird populations within the New Zealand EEZ. In the current report, the approach is applied to seabirds globally in the southern hemisphere. Catchabilities were estimated from New Zealand captures. Then global fishing effort and species distributions were collated and used to assess the risk to seabirds from predicted fisheries captures throughout their range.

Data on elver catches of longfin and shortfin eels from hydroelectric barriers were collected during the 2018–19 to 2021–22 seasons. Catches contained moderate shortfin numbers, but moderate-high longfin numbers. Combined recruitment indices from all sites and seasons showed that recruitment of both species is variable within and between sites but remained stable, consistent with previous studies, indicating that recruitment of elvers has remained stable within the time frames of the datasets.

This report summarises the ling stock off the west coast South Island (LIN 7WC) and fishery. It describes the spatial structure of the stock, biological parameters, and trawl and longline standardised catch per unit effort (CPUE). Statistical Area 032 was reassigned to LIN 7WC based on the continuity of catch locations. The trawl and longline fishery CPUE and survey biomass showed similar patterns from 2000, with a decline from 2012. All three indices were considered in the stock assessment.

This report investigated the spatial and temporal structure of arrow squid (Nototodarus sloanii and N. gouldi) in New Zealand. Five potential stocks were defined. Estimates of growth rate were consistent with previous estimates. Spatial-temporal standardised CPUE fortnightly indices were developed and could be predicted relatively well by environmental variables. Preliminary population models showed recruitment was well estimated but initial biomass was highly uncertain.