Holmes, S.J.; Dunn, M.R.; Bian, R. (2026). Fishery description and catch per unit effort analyses for silver warehou in SWA 3 and SWA 4 to the 2024–25 fishing year. New Zealand Fisheries Assessment Report 2026/35. 46 p. Silver warehou (Seriolella punctata, SWA) are found all around New Zealand and are relatively common around the South Island and on Chatham Rise at depths of 200–800 m. This report provides a fishery characterisation and Catch-Per-Unit-Effort (CPUE) indices for silver warehou in management areas SWA 3 and SWA 4 using data to the end of the 2024–25 fishing year. Silver warehou catches were almost exclusively taken by trawling and predominantly by bottom trawl. Most silver warehou was taken as a bycatch whilst targeting other species such as hoki and squid. Silver warehou were caught on Chatham Rise and along the South Island east coast shelf edge, with some catches also around the Subantarctic Auckland, Campbell and Bounty Islands, and on Pukaki Rise. In recent years, silver warehou catches from silver warehou target tows were mostly absent from Chatham Rise except for one small ‘hot spot’ on south Chatham Rise just east of 180°. Standardised CPUE increased in the early 2000s and then was variable around this higher level.
