61410 (2024). Teanau Tuiono to the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries

61410 (2024). Teanau Tuiono to the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries: How does Fisheries NZ explain the discrepancy between the decade-old data used for the orange roughy catch limit review and the more pessimistic stock status predicted by more recent surveys?

Hon Shane Jones: Fisheries New Zealand uses scientific working groups to ensure the best available information is used to inform fisheries management decisions. Multiple models were presented for the orange roughy catch limit review including models with more recent survey data. I am advised that based on the advice of the relevant scientific working group, Fisheries New Zealand concluded that the best available information for the orange roughy catch limit review was the data series which includes biomass estimates for all three of the sub-areas that are typically surveyed. The 2013 survey was the most recent that had estimates for all three sub-areas. This estimate was combined with more recent estimates of catch and natural mortality within a stock assessment model to project biomass forward from 2013 to 2024. More recent surveys did not include biomass estimates for one or two areas, as aggregations were not seen. While aggregations were not identified in these areas, it is likely that dispersed fish were present which cannot be measured using acoustic survey techniques. Surveys typically occur in July when spawning aggregations are expected, however the exact timing can vary due to a range of factors and due to the limited sea days available for a survey it is possible to miss an aggregation.