Analysis of catch and effort data in SSRUs 882A–B North from the 2015 fishing season including comparisons with data from exploratory fisheries and closed areas

At the 2015 meetings of WG-FSA and the Scientific Committee, the UK, New Zealand and Norway noted that they would perform an analysis of CPUE variability, haul duration and haul speed from the 2015 survey of the northern region of SSRUs 88.2A–B, including a comparison with all exploratory fisheries and closed areas. The analysis showed that overall, the CPUE rates observed in the survey were within the range of that observed in other exploratory fisheries and similar to those typically observed in the north area of Subarea 88.1, the nearest comparable area. Hauling speeds (number of hooks hauled per hour) during the survey were generally lower than those observed elsewhere and showed a decreasing trend with increasing CPUE. This is consistent with the time required to land and process sets with a larger number of fish per 1000 hooks, especially in seamount habitats where the fish are large and during research surveys that have increased tagging rates. The distributions of CPUE observed, haul duration, and haul speed during the survey were within the range observed for other comparable areas, and most importantly, showed the same pattern of both high and low catch rates, along with a pattern of lower hauling rates for lines when high CPUE areas were encountered.