Download FAR 2024/63 Characterisation and CPUE for the red gurnard fishery in GUR 2 from 1989 to 2023

Red gurnard is an important component of inshore trawl fisheries around New Zealand. Off the central east coast of the North Island (GUR 2), the target bottom trawl fishery for gurnard is focused in Hawke Bay, with bycatch in the deeper tarakihi target fishery representing around a third of the catch.
Abundance of red gurnard in GUR 2 is monitored using catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) from the inshore trawl fishery, and a CPUE-based target abundance level has been established to facilitate its management within the Quota Management System. In this report, this information is given for 1990 to 2023. In 2023 red gurnard was assessed as being likely to be at or above the target.
Gurnard abundance appears to be cyclical, with increases and decreases occurring over 5–7 year periods. Fine-scale changes in the distribution of red gurnard within Hawke Bay and the neighbouring coastal areas are also evident in tow-level data available since 2008, with the population moving between deeper and shallower areas. In 2022 and 2023 red gurnard appear to have had a deeper distribution, but it is unclear if this is related to the impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle.