Seafood to Avoid Lookdown dory Scientific name: Cyttus traversi Other names:king dory Ranking: E (Red - Avoid)

Icon Explanations

The main concerns with this fishery are: the absence of some basic biological information, the unknown sustainability of recent catch levels, the absence of a quantitative stock assessment, the absence of estimates of reference or current biomass, the impact of trawling on benthic communities, and the absence of a management plan. As a bycatch of other fisheries, this species is also associated with seabird, marine mammal and other non-taregt fish bycatch.

The fishery assessment plenary report states: "There are no known sustainability concerns in the lookdown dory fishery. Trawl surveys indicate stable or increasing abundance in the main fishery. However, it is not known whether recent catches will allow the stock to move towards a size that will support the maximum sustainable yield." (Ministry of Fisheries, 2007, p 457)

Market: New Zealand and asia.

Status and sustainable yield
Status: Uncertain
Annual catch limit: Set at 783 tonnes in 2004.
Recorded catch: Latest reported annual landings of 470 tonnes in 2005-06.
Population size: Uncertain.
Stock trends: Uncertain but annual trawl survey on the Chatham Rise "show no decline in recent years".

Fishing method
Method: Trawling bycatch from hoki, and to a much smaller extent in barracouta, hake, ling and scampi fisheries.
Habitat damage: Trawl fishing scrape the seabed and reduce species diversity and habitat.
Bycatch: Lookdown dory is a bycatch species for a range of middle-depth fisheries including hoki and barracouta, which have seabird and marine mammal bycatch problems.
Ecological effects: Bottom trawling impacts on seabed species and habitats.

Management
Stock assessment: Stock assessment: No quantitative stock assessment.
Management plan: No.
Quota Management Species: Yes, since 2004.

Biology
Distribution: Lookdown dory are caught all around New Zealand with the largest catches on the East Coast of the South Island, the Chatham Rise and the West Coast of the South Island.
Maximum age (years): 30+?
Age at sexual maturity: ?
Growth rate: Low?
Reproductive output: Medium.
Age exploited: ?

References:Report from the Fishery Assessment Plenary, May 2007: stock assessments and yield estimates. Part 2: Hake to Paua , Science Group, Ministry of Fisheries; Guidebook to New Zealand Commercial Fish Species, Revised Edition 1990, NZ Fishing Industry Board.

This page was updated on 9 November, 2007