Research Observer Days - Pelagic Fisheries

Project: Research Observer Days – Pelagic Fisheries
Project Code: OBS2004/05
Start Date: 1 October 2004
Completion Date: 30 September 2005

Overall Objectives:

1. To collect specified data describing pelagic fisheries for pelagic fisheries research.
2. To collect specified data describing the effects of fishing in pelagic fisheries.

Specific Objectives:

1. To describe the catch including discards in the JMA fisheries.
2. To collect biological data about JMA and other species as directed in the JMA fisheries.
3. To describe the catch including discards in the EMA fisheries.
4. To collect biological data about EMA and other species as directed in the EMA fisheries.
5. To characterise the EMA purse seine fishery.
6. To describe the catch including discards in the tuna fisheries.
7. To collect biological data about tuna and other species as directed in the tuna fisheries.
8. To characterise the SKJ purse seine fishery.
9. To characterise the PIL purse seine fishery.
10. To characterise the KIN trawl catch.

Observer Days Required:

1030 days required for pelagic fisheries, 600 for domestic tuna, 200 for JV tuna, 30 for SKJ purse-seine, 150 for JMA, 20 for EMA, 10 for PIL and 20 for KIN in 2004/05. See the rationale section below for further details of the sampling plans.

Note:

The days specified in the sampling plan are subject to ongoing review and revision by the
Ministry and the pelagic working group. Such review will also take account of obligations
with respect to regional fisheries organisations relating to tuna. This project will also provide
descriptive data for Aquatic Environment research. Department of Conservation sea days are likely for the tuna fisheries, but are not included in this plan.

The Pelagic Stock Assessment Working Group will review the results of historic research
projects to optimise observer days in the tuna and jack mackerel fisheries prior to the exact
number of pelagic observer days for 2004/05 being confirmed. Dependent on the timing of
the review, this may also alter the number of observer days requested in the 2003/04 year.

Rationale:

General

Observer data represent the only detailed quantification of catch on a set-by-set basis
available to scientists. Observer data are independent of the fishery and accordingly provide
valuable insight into fishery dynamics through time. Observers collect catch effort data,
biological data and biological specimens for a variety of science purposes. Observer data
often provide the only source of detailed biological information about fish in pelagic
fisheries, especially in those fisheries where a considerable amount of processing occurs at
sea.

History

The pelagic fisheries observer programme since 2001/02 is detailed in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Observer sea days planned and sea days achieved from 2001/02 – 2003/04, and proposed sea days for 2004/05.

# This increase is needed to allow statistically robust estimates of species composition in the catch to be determined in JMA 7 for stock assessment purposes.

* This increase is required to get closer to the desired 10% coverage in this fishery (required a variety of science purposes, including non-target catch estimation and determination of biological parameters for target and non-target species.

@ Exploratory coverage to provide fishery characterisation, not intended to provide a statistical sample.

Note that some exploratory days in the domestic tuna purse-seine fishery were also conducted in 2002/03, jack mackerel samples are to be collected from the squid and hoki fisheries, and blue mackerel samples are to be collected in the hoki fishery during 2003/04 and 2004/05.

Sampling Plan for 2003/04 & 2004/05

For all pelagic fisheries:

• observers are requested to be aware of and report tagged fish, especially species tagged in the NZ gamefish tag programme (YFN, KIN, MAK & STM), the CCSBT STN programme and other regional programmes for SKJ, BIG, YFN and ALB

For JMA:

• 150 days in the JMA 7 target trawl fishery- at least one sample per day, preferably one sample per tow of the target species
• dolphin/trawl interactions in the Taranaki Bight - direct observation of hauls for incidental mortality should be 100% where two observers are present
• opportunistic sampling in the SQU/HOK trawl fisheries – 200 samples

For domestic tuna longline

• 600 days in the target fishery – 45 days per month June-March, 75 days per month April & May
• LF data on BET, SBT, NOR, ALB, YFN, SWO
• detailed data on non-target catch to allow estimation of total non-target catch
• data on status of fish at capture
• seabird/longline interactions

For charter tuna longline

• 200 days in the tuna target longline fishery – all vessels during autumn fishery
• LF data on SBT, NOR, ALB, SWO
• detailed data on non-target catch to allow estimation of total non-target catch
• data on status of fish at capture
• seabird/longline interactions

For purse-seine tuna:

• SKJ – 30 days of summer target purse-seine fishery

For EMA:

• purse-seine – 20 days of target fishery
• opportunistic sampling in the HOK/JMA trawl fisheries – 100 samples

For PIL:

• purse-seine – 10 days of target fishery

For KIN:

• trawl – 20 days of non-target trawl catch

The biological samples required in the target fisheries are detailed in the Observer Biological
Manual. The other sampling priorities in these fisheries are the full and accurate
quantification of the catch, the biological sampling of other target species e.g. MOO & RBM, the biological sampling of non-target pelagic species e.g. POS & MAK, any EMA/JMA biological samples in the HOK/SQU fishery, conversion factor data and other sampling as notified to the Observer Programme. Alterations to sampling plans and additional data requests will be by way of a request for the collection of samples or a request for the collection of data.

Strategic Relevance

This project provides basic biological information for JMA, EMA, PIL, KIN and tuna stock assessment and fishery characterisation.

It is an integral part of the pelagic fisheries medium term research plan. This project also
forms a part of the Aquatic Environment research theme ‘…to determine the direct effects of fishing on associated or dependent species…’, a part of the research topic ‘…the effects of fishing on associated or dependent species…’, and a part of the research programme ‘…to assess the effects of fishing on non-target fish catch by obtaining accurate estimates of the size and distribution of commercial catch and estimates of fishery-induced mortality…’.

This project is therefore consistent with the Ministry of Fisheries Strategic Research Directions document and the Pelagic Fisheries medium term research plan.

Cost Recovery Information:

The percentage allocation for this project will be attributed to the following Fishstocks
according to rule 8 of the Fisheries (Cost Recovery) Rules 2001:

• JMA 7 (150 days)
• SKJ (30 days)
• EMA (20 days)
• BET, SBT, NOR, ALB, YFN, SWO (600 days combined)
• STN (200 days)
• PIL (10 days)
• KIN (20 days).