Download FAR 2013/02 Comparison of Challenger Plateau (ORH 7A) orange roughy age estimates between 1987 and 2009

Orange roughy age estimates from the Challenger Plateau (ORH 7A) spawning area were used to compare the age composition of fish in 2009 with those in 1987, i.e. are the 2009 fish new recruits or immigrants from another stock? Results showed that the 2009 fish were on average 20 years younger than those sampled in 1987. We conclude that the 2009 fish were mainly a pulse of recently matured fish and not the result of migration from some other lightly fished stock.