Title: Fisheries Assessment Plenary May 2017: Stock Assessments and Stock Status
21_EEL_2017.pdf
(3.0 MB)
The May 2017 Fisheries Plenary Report summarises fishery, biological, stock assessment and stock status information for 83 of New Zealand’s commercial fish species or species groups in a series of Working Group or Plenary reports. Each species or species group is split into 1-10 stocks for management purposes. EEL
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Title: Fisheries Assessment Plenary May 2016: Stock Assessments and Stock Status
21_ EEL_2016_FINAL.pdf
(2.3 MB)
The May 2016 Fisheries Plenary Report summarises fishery, biological, stock assessment and stock status information for 83 of New Zealand’s commercial fish species or species groups in a series of Working Group or Plenary reports. Each species or species group is split into 1-10 stocks for management purposes. EEL
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Title: Fisheries Assessment Plenary May 2015: Stock Assessments and Stock Status
21_ Eel_2015_FINAL.pdf
(2.3 MB)
The May 2015 Fisheries Plenary Report summarises fishery, biological, stock assessment and stock status information for 82 of New Zealand’s commercial fish species or species groups in a series of Working Group or Plenary reports. Each species or species group is split into 1-10 stocks for management purposes. EEL
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The May 2014 Fisheries Plenary Report summarises fishery, biological, stock assessment and stock status information for 82 of New Zealand’s commercial fish species or species groups in a series of Working Group or Plenary reports. Each species or species group is split into 1-10 stocks for management purposes. Volume 1 covers the Introductory Sections to Jack Mackerel.
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Longfin eel
The Working Group recognises that there are no stock assessments on which to base specific recommendations on longfin catch levels. Nevertheless, recruitment data, CPUE indices, and information on spawner escapement allow for a cautioned assessment to be made of longfin and shortfin stock status.
From the age composition of juvenile eels there is evidence that glass eel recruitment has declined in two North Island and three South Island waters, and there is anecdotal evidence that glass eel runs are now substantially smaller in the Waikato River that in the 1970’s.
Nevertheless, results from 2007–08 show that, with the exception of 1997-98, the number of longfin elvers at two of the main monitoring stations (Karapiro and Matahina dams) was the highest that has been recorded in the past 16 years.
The only reliable estimates of relative abundance are based on CPUE data. For the North Island, the ESAs with the largest longfin commercial catches (ESAs AA, AD, and AH) all showed declines of 25-75% in CPUE indices from 1990-91 to 2003-04, with the largest reduction occurring in Rangitikei-Wanganui (ESA AH). By contrast, although the main commercial longfin fisheries in the South Island (ESAs AX, AV, and AW) had either relatively stable or decreasing CPUE indices from 1990-91 to 2000-01 (the year eels were introduced into the QMS on the South Island), these generally increased from 2
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The freshwater eel fishery is distributed throughout accessible freshwaters (lakes, rivers, streams, farm ponds, tarns) and some estuarine and coastal waters of New Zealand, including the Chatham Islands. The contemporary commercial fishery dates from the mid-1960s when markets were established in Europe and Asia.
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This document summarises the most recent New Zealand fishery, biological, stock assessment and stock status information about freshwater eels.
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