After individual quotas were imposed in 1990, the fishery for
Jasus edwardsii in the Gisborne area showed continuing
declines in catch and catch rate to 1993, and the total quota could not be
caught in this area. There were few legal-sized but many sublegal-sized
lobsters. Pots caused mortality of sublegal lobsters through handling,
pot-related Octopus predation, and thefts from
commercial pots.
The industry, in conjunction with recreational fishers and Maori, developed a
scheme to address these problems. The aim was to increase landed value to
compensate for quota reductions, and to do this by landing more lobsters in
winter (when prices were higher) and landing smaller lobsters (which had a
higher unit price). A shortened season was designed to reduce pot-related
mortality.
Part of the scheme—a proposal to reduce the minimum legal size of male
lobsters—caused controversy. However, the package was evaluated with a
simple model and then accepted by the Minister of Fisheries. Results were
substantially increased catch rates since 1993, a successful shift to a winter
fishery, and a shift in length frequencies toward larger sizes. A simple
size-structured model fitted to the fishery data and used to evaluate future
management options is also described.