The red rock lobster supports the most valuable inshore commercial fishery in New Zealand. This fishery has been managed with catch quotas in nine Quota Management Areas (QMAs), which are usually treated as independent populations or stocks.
Since at the late-1970s, the settlement rate of puerulus (early-life stage) red rock lobsters has been monitored at several sites around New Zealand. These data were once used by the stock assessments of some QMAs to inform annual recruitment (the appearance of young lobsters in the fishery), which was thought to help with making short-term predictions about future stock biomass. However, puerulus data have not been used by any of the most recent assessments for any QMA for different reasons.
This document describes a review of the puerulus monitoring data and their utility, along with climatic data, for predicting New Zealand red rock lobster recruitment.
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