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Orange roughy - Southwest Pacific
Fact Sheet Title  Fact Sheet
Stock status report 2022
Orange roughy - Southwest Pacific
Fact Sheet Citation  
Orange roughy
Owned bySouth Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation (SPRFMO) – ownership
Monitoring Range Min1989.
ident Blockident Blockdisplay tree map
 
Species List:
Species Ref: en - Orange roughy, fr - Hoplostète orange, es - Reloj anaranjado, ru - Большеголов атлантический (=берикс исландский)

Fishery Indicators
Production: Catch
ident Block Orange roughy - Southwest Pacific
Aq Res
Biological Stock: No         Value: Regional
Management unit: Yes        Reference year: 2021
 
 
Aq Res State Trend
Aq Res State Trend
Aq Res State Trend
Aq Res State TrendNot applicable
Aq Res State TrendNot applicable
Aq Res State Trend
Aq Res State TrendMaximally sustainably fished
Habitat Bio
Climatic Zone: Temperate.   Depth Zone: Slope - Deepslope (500 m - 1000 m).   Horizontal Dist: Oceanic.   Vertical Dist: Demersal.   Geo Form: Seamounts.  


In the South Pacific, orange roughy aggregates in deep, cold waters (3-9 ˚C) over steep continental slopes, canyons, ocean ridges, and underwater topographical features such as seamounts, especially during spawning and feeding. Orange roughy can also be dispersed over smooth bottoms, rough bottoms, and steep, rough grounds. Orange roughy are bentho-pelagic, generally occurring near the bottom but at times ascending to feed or spawn 50-100 m above the seafloor. 
Geo Dist
Geo Dist: Straddling between High Seas and EEZ

Water Area Overview
Spatial Scale: Regional

Water Area Overview
Aq Res Struct
Biological Stock: No


This species occurs in the North and South Atlantic, in the South-Central Indian Ocean, in the Tasman Sea, on the New Zealand shelf, on seamounts and ridges to the east of New Zealand, and off central and southern Chile. 
Exploit
 

As described in SC5-DW13_rev1.

Southwest Pacific SPRFMO high seas deepwater fishery
Fishery Indicators
TypeMeasureValueUnitTime period
ProductionCatch 19tonnes1981
Catch 50tonnes1982
Catch 84tonnes1983
Catch 0tonnes1984
Catch 0tonnes1985
Catch 5tonnes1986
Catch 3tonnes1987
Catch 6tonnes1988
Catch 1047tonnes1989
Catch 163tonnes1990
Catch 53tonnes1991
Catch 714tonnes1992
Catch 4541tonnes1993
Catch 3130tonnes1994
Catch 12153tonnes1995
Catch 8870tonnes1996
Catch 5455tonnes1997
Catch 5411tonnes1998
Catch 8139tonnes1999
Catch 2977tonnes2000
Catch 4235tonnes2001
Catch 4116tonnes2002
Catch 3433tonnes2003
Catch 4070tonnes2004
Catch 3894tonnes2005
Catch 2494tonnes2006
Catch 1470tonnes2007
Catch 837tonnes2008
Catch 1154tonnes2009
Catch 1467tonnes2010
Catch 974tonnes2011
Catch 769tonnes2012
Catch 1207tonnes2013
Catch 1149tonnes2014
Catch 1223tonnes2015
Catch 915tonnes2016
Catch 1062tonnes2017
Catch 1164tonnes2018
Catch 504tonnes2019
Catch 301tonnes2020
Catch 20tonnes2021
Bio Assess
Uncertainty: High


A preliminary data-poor stock assessment method was applied to seven orange roughy SPRFMO stocks. The method uses an age-structured population model, with a single fishery on mature fish, and biological parameters borrowed from stock assessments of five New Zealand EEZ orange roughy stocks. The focus of the method is on Bmin which is the minimum virgin biomass that would allow the historical catches to be taken assuming a maximum exploitation rate of 67% (a considered value that has been used in New Zealand orange roughy stock assessments for more than 20 years). In 2022, a review of the assessment model was performed with a focus on the Louisville Ridge Central stock. The model appeared over parameterized, poorly informed, and highly uncertain. As a precautionary approach, estimates of Bmin were produced as a proxy for B0 to provide management advice. 
Data

Catch history, age composition, length frequencies
Assess Models
Type:  Others
CASAL (Catch-history, Age-Structured Simulation)

A single area, single sex, age structured model (1-150 years with a plus group) was used with Bayesian estimation of virgin biomass (B0). In addition to age, fish were also classified by maturity (immature or mature). A single fishery was assumed to occur at the end of the year on mature fish only. Natural mortality (M) was fixed at 0.45 and a Beverton-Holt stock recruitment relationship was assumed with h = 0.75 (both standard and long-running assumptions for New Zealand orange roughy).
Results

The purpose of SC10-DW01_rev1, as specified in the SC workplan, was to update the orange roughy stock assessments for the Lord Howe Rise, West Norfolk Ridge and Louisville Ridge (3 stocks). An assessment for the Northwest Challenger Plateau was also included. The previous assessments used Bayesian integrated models, but it was thought that these models were showing undesirable statistical properties (were over-parameterised), and there was insufficient information in the available data to justify the model results. An estimation of the minimum initial biomass that could have supported the catches (Bmin) can still be made even if an estimate of stock size and status cannot credibly be made. Using this estimate as a basis would be a conservative approach, because it is the minimum possible.
Sci Advice

With respect to SC10-DW01_rev1 the SC: a. noted that the previously accepted orange roughy stock assessments for north, central and South Louisville Ridge, the West Norfolk Ridge, Lord Howe Rise and the Northwest Challenger Plateau using integrated assessment models have been shown to be unreliable. b. noted that even with accurate age data to inform the previously accepted stock assessment modelling approach, misspecification of natural mortality rate or year class strength could produce substantially misleading biomass estimates. Error in age frequencies could result in the true biomass being outside of the 95% CI of the assessment model, even if the assessment model had perfect knowledge for all other parameters. c. noted that error and bias in orange roughy age samples can be relatively high. d. noted that the integrated assessment model approach can still be used to estimate Bmin given plausible settings for stock productivity and vulnerability, and that the Bmin estimates from integrated models were higher than the B0 estimates from spatial CPUE and simple population model-based methods. e. noted that until further informative data are available the uncertainty in sustainable yield estimates will remain high. The most informative data to collect would likely be acoustic biomass estimates. f. noted that if the stock is already depleted to a low level (e.g., <20%), then harvesting at maximum constant yield (MCY) would result in a relatively high fishing mortality rate and could result in a very slow stock rebuild or further decline. Current Annual Yield (CAY) and MSY yields will be higher than MCY and would exacerbate this risk. However, the risk should be mitigated when applying the MCY scalar to Bmin. g. agreed that the Bmin estimates should be used as a proxy for B0 estimates and that sustainable yields should be calculated by applying a fixed scalar to the Bmin associated with an MCY policy of 1.45% (i.e., sustainable yield = 0.0145 × Bmin) (Table 10 of SC10-DW01_rev1).
Management
Management unit: Yes


Target trawl fisheries for orange roughy have occurred in the South Pacific since the late 1970’s to the present day. The Lord Howe Rise and Northwest Challenger Plateau have been the main areas of orange roughy catch in the Tasman Sea outside the New Zealand and Australian EEZs. A fishery on the Norfolk Ridge is a recent development, and the Louisville Ridge fishery to the east of New Zealand continues. Catches peaked in the area in the mid 1990s at around 15,000 t, but in recent years have been less than 1,000 t. Orange roughy in the SPRFMO Area are managed under CMM03 (Bottom Fishing) and CMM03a (Deepwater species).
Sources
 
SPRFMO. 2022. Report of the tenth meeting of the Scientific Committee, Seoul, Korea, 26-30 September 2022.  Click to openhttps://www.sprfmo.int/assets/Meetings/SC/10th-SC-2022/SC10-Report-Final-19Jan2023-v2.pdf
SPRFMO. 2022. SC10-DW01_rev1. Orange roughy stock assessment for Louisville Ridge, West Norfolk Ridge, Lord Howe Rise, and Northwest Challenger Plateau. Tenth meeting of the Scientific Committee, Seoul, Korea, 26-30 September 2022.  Click to openhttps://www.sprfmo.int/assets/Meetings/SC/10th-SC-2022/SC10-DW01_rev1-Orange-roughy-stock-assessment-for-LR-WFR-LHR-NWCP-NZ.pdf
SPRFMO. 2017. SC5-DW_rev1. A data-limited approach for assessing small-scale fisheries for Orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticusI) in the SPRFMO Area. Fifth meeting of the Scientific Committee, Shanghai, China, 23 - 28 September 2017.  Click to openhttps://www.sprfmo.int/assets/Meetings/02-SC/5th-SC-2017/Deepwater/SC5-DW13_rev1-Roux-Edwards-BDM-method-ORY.pdf
SPRFMO Conservation and Management Measures.  Click to openhttps://www.sprfmo.int/fisheries/conservation-and-management-measures/
All references to figures, tables and bibliography in the text are found within the source of information.
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