MSC pre-assessment conducted

MSC pre-assessment undertaken

Deepwater Group is leading the project, involving the government and other stakeholders

Fisheries Improvement Plan updated with new updates and milestones (2016)

ORH MEC March 2015 Fisheries Improvement Plan (Revised)

ORH MEC March 2014 Fisheries Improvement Plan

Activities to address issues are underway in H2 2016 and H1 2017:

• Quantitatively determine ETP coral distributions within the fishery, the bioregion, and the EEZ.
• Document the management strategy for impacts on ETP corals.
• Assess nature and extent of impact by fishery on habitat structure and function.
• Document the management strategy for impacts on habitats.

Deepwater Group is working in partnership with the Ministry of Primary Industries to undertake remedial actions

A revised stock assessment was undertaken in December 2017. The provisional outcome was that the stock remains below the soft limit of 20% B₀ but that it will continue to rebuild and, at the current harvest level, is projected to be above 30% B₀ (i.e. the lower end of the management target of 30 – 50% B₀), in 31 years’ time (i.e. by 2049)

Review of the most recent data on by catch (2013-2014) done in 2017. concluded that no single bycatch species contributed more than 1.8% of the total catch (Anderson, 2017 http://fs.fish.govt.nz/Page.aspx?pk=113&dk=24284 ). For deep water sharks, which are considered ‘low resilience’ species, the bycatch of 7 species and a generic ‘shark’ component combined, amounted to 1.3% of the total catch. There are therefore no ‘main’ Primary or Secondary species.

Remedial management actions recommended under P1 in the 2015 plan have been completed

Rebuilding plan developed and implemented in response to decreased biomass estimates.

A Management Strategy Evaluation (MSE) has been developed and applied to three ORH fisheries. 

Stock assessment and outputs were accepted by MPI’s Deepwater Fisheries Assessment Working Group (DWFAWG) and Plenary Processes

A biomass survey was undertaken in June 2017 and the results were reported in December 2017. The 2017 survey biomass estimate of 7,400 t was considerably higher than the biomass estimate of 4,200 t from a survey conducted in June 2013.