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Bluenose

Since 2011, Fisheries Inshore New Zealand has been contracting scientific work to underpin the management of bluenose; this has been voluntarily funded by quota owners.

The work consists of four components:

  1. Catch-per-unit-effort analysis (CPUE);
  2. A management procedure evaluation (MPE); 
  3. Representative catch sampling; and,
  4. Developing a Management and Monitoring Plan for bluenose stocks.

Fisheries Inshore New Zealand has contracted a series of CPUE analyses that have been peer reviewed and accepted by the Ministry for Primary Industries Science Working Group. This information forms a vital index of stock abundance.

The CPUE analysis is used in a Management Procedure Evaluation that is a set of monitoring processes and decision rules that are designed to ensure that bluenose stocks rebuild to a specified target within a specified timeframe. The advantage of this approach is that it provides certainty about what information is to be collected and how it will be used; it also allows for responsive and timely management.

The associated catch sampling provides valuable information about key parameters such as growth and recruitment (juveniles entering the fishery). This is then incorporated into future MPEs to increase the certainty around the monitoring of stocks.

This work comes together in a Management and Monitoring Plan for all bluenose stocks. Fisheries Inshore New Zealand considers that such plans are vital to provide certainty for all stakeholders and guide the services and associated management decisions for key fisheries. 

See our latest submission to MPI on bluenose here.