434 



Fishery Bulletin 102(3) 



A lobster 



700 , 



Southern zone 



Northern zone 



maiahmiiii 



-i — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — i — I — r- 



-1 — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I 

 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 



(_ octopus 

 10 -, 



L) octopus 

 10 



— i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i — i 

 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 



6 -I 

 4 

 2 

 



H#fe^%ftft 



t. dead lobster 

 30 



Q- 25 

 8 20 



£ 15 



V> 



2 10 

 •o 



TO 

 <D 

 T3 5 



6 



2 



T 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 I 1 1— I 1 



1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 



T 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 



1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 



r dead lobster 

 30 -, 



25 - 



20 



15 



10 



5 







-tfrftttt 



T — I 1 — I 1 — I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 — 1 1 — I 1 



1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 



Season 



Figure 3 



Annual catch rates in each fishing zone for lobsters (CPUE, I (A and B), octopus (CPUE, ,i 

 (C and Dl, and dead lobsters (M[ J iE and F). Error bars are ±SD of mean. 



Since 1983, mean annual CPUE L has increased in all 

 MFAs, and has been consistently higher in MFAs 56 

 and 58 than in other areas (Fig. 5A). CPUE () has varied 

 among years but has followed similar trends in different 

 MFAs with consistent peaks in 1993 (Fig 5C). Prior to 

 1992, M L was similar among MFAs but after 1992 was 

 generally highest in MFAs 56 and 58 (Fig. 5E). M L has 

 increased over time in all MFAs. 



Northern zone In the NZ, mean annual CPUE L rose 

 from 135 to 179 lobsters/( 100 trap-lifts/day) between 

 1983 and 1991, decreased to 138 lobsters/1 100 trap-lifts/ 

 day) in 1993 and then rose again to 177 lobsters/I 100 

 trap-lifts/day) in 1999 (Fig 3B). CPUE ranged between 



1.0 and 2.4 octopus/l 100 trap-lifts/day) in 1987 and 1993 

 respectively (Fig. 3D). M L ranged from 5.0 to 7.3 dead 

 lobsters/(100 trap-lifts/day I in 1983 and 1988. respec- 

 tively (Fig. 3F). 



Mean monthly CPUE L declined from 196 to 88 lob- 

 ster/100 trap-lifts/day between November and May 

 (Fig. 4B). Mean monthly CPUE was reasonably constant 

 at between 1.43 and 1.7 octopus/100 trap-lifts/day for 

 the first five months of the season before a decline to 1.0 

 octopus/100 trap-lifts/day in May (Fig. 4D>. The mean 

 monthly M, declined from 7.5 to 3.4 dead lobster/100 

 trap-lifts/day between November and May (Fig. 4Fi. 



Since 1983, mean annual CPUE L has been relatively 

 low and stable in MFAs 15, 28, and 40 but has been 



