The intrinsic rate of increase is unknown for Orange Roughy. Age at sexual maturity varies from 20-35 years, with females and males generally maturing at the same age (Horn et al. 1998). The growth rate (k) is 0.04-0.06, which is considered a very low growth rate (FishBase 2010). Orange Roughy can live upwards of 100 years, although exact maximum age has yet to be determined (Andrews et al. 2009).

Orange Roughy aggregate for spawning and for feeding around topographic features including seamounts, plateaus and canyons (Clark 2001; Lack et al. 2003; NZMoF 2004a).

In New Zealand waters where most Orange Roughy are caught, Orange Roughy gather into huge schools for spawning each year from late June to early August (Clark 1995). The main spawning grounds around New Zealand are the Challenger Plateau, Cook Canyon, Puysegur Bank, Chatham Rise, Ritchie Bank and Bay of Plenty at depths of between 700-1000 m (NZMoF 2004a; FishBase 2010). Off Australia, the main spawning grounds for Orange Roughy are thought to be Great Australian Bight, New South Wales, St. Helens sea hill in Tasmania and the West Australian Ridge (FishBase 2010). The Orange Roughy fishery is very successful at catching large amounts of fish on or near seamounts where these large aggregations are formed (FishBase 2010).

Orange Roughy has extremely late maturity and relatively low fecundity, making Orange Roughy populations particularly susceptible to overfishing (AMFA 2006; UNEP 2006; NZMoF 2004b). Each female carries about 22,000 eggs per kilogram of body weight, which is less than 10 percent of the average for other species (NZMoF 2004a). Mean age at the onset of maturity ranges from 20 to 35 years for Orange Roughy (Horn et al. 1998).

Orange Roughy are found in 'pockets' of the oceans worldwide and are most abundant off New Zealand, Australia, Namibia, in the northeast Atlantic around the Faroe Islands, off southern Chile, and South of Madagascar (Horn et al. 1998; Strutt 2000; Branch 2001). We consider this to be a medium size range, thus no points were subtracted.

Seven areas are managed in New Zealand waters, containing at least eight populations. The most recent quantitative assessment found four populations had biomass that were close to or less than 20% of the estimated virgin biomass, while the status of the remaining populations was unknown but thought to be substantially depleted (NZMoF 2009). The New Zealand management authorities' target level of abundance (Bmsy) is 30% of pre-fished biomass. The Australian government reports their stocks at around 60-70% of virgin biomass, although exact biomass estimates are not available (Wilson et al. 2009). These reports indicate that Orange Roughy has been reduced to a low abundance in areas where it is commercially fished.

Standardized CPUE values from all stocks in New Zealand have declined since the early 1980’s to roughly 10-30% of initial levels in the late 1990s-2008 (NZMoF 2009). Information from other countries could not be obtained, but since New Zealand fisheries comprises the majority of the global Orange Roughy catch, points were subtracted.

Ageing of orange roughy uses otoliths, but is recognized as being especially difficult (Andrews et al. 2009). Where data are available, the age structure of orange roughy appears to have been substantially truncated following exploitation (Dunn 2005).

Three New Zealand populations of Orange Roughy are overfished (Annala et al. 2004). Australia also considers their Orange Roughy populations as overfished (Wilson, et al. 2009).

The fishing method used for Orange Roughy is bottom trawling down seamounts, which can cause significant damage to sensitive deep-sea coral habitat (Althaus et al. 2009; Conner 2001). Trawl gear used in Orange Roughy fisheries has been shown to reduce benthic biomass and damage slow-growing corals, as well as decrease overall diversity of marine life (Lack et al. 2003).

No gear innovations are being developed or implemented in an attempt to minimize the adverse effects on habitat from trawl gear in Orange Roughy fisheries in New Zealand, Australia, Namibia, and countries in the Northeast Atlantic (Lack et al. 2003). Some countries, however, are addressing overfishing by reducing total fishing effort (Lack et al. 2003), which has the effect of reducing habitat damage. New Zealand, for example, has closed fishing in some areas considered environmentally vulnerable, though assessment of success rates of closures is currently unavailable (Penney, et al. 2009).

No points were deducted because some action is being taken to reduce habitat damage from Orange Roughy fishing gear by closing sections of seamounts and trawling areas.

Orange Roughy habitat includes seamount coral habitat, which is slow growing and sensitive to damage. The significance and vulnerability of seamount ecosystems, particularly those in the high seas, has been recognized internationally. The United Nations (UN) Open-Ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea (UNICPOLOS) note in May 2002 that seamounts are one of the underwater features on the high seas that support diverse and abundant communities, and may support endemic species (Lack, et al. 2003; Clark et al. 2010). In addition, damage done to coral habitats on seamounts lasts for a substantial amount of time therefore any damage done has long-term affects on abundance and diversity (Althaus et al. 2009).

New Zealand has implemented closures of several seamounts and deep-water habitats in their waters, but almost the entire known Orange Roughy habitat remains open to trawling (Penney et al. 2009). In the fisheries that remain open around New Zealand, there are no time or area closures to protect nursery grounds, nor spawning aggregations. Fishing on spawning aggregations remains common practice. No points were added because most habitat is not protected.

Of all global Orange Roughy fisheries, 80% have a management framework in place specific to Orange Roughy (Lack et al. 2003). Although management is in place for most Orange Roughy fisheries, conservation goals are not being adequately addressed in most fisheries. Overfishing is still occurring, population abundance is not well understood for most of the populations, and habitat damage is being caused by trawl gear (Lack et al. 2003).

Australia considers its populations overfished, and New Zealand notes that many of its populations are below target levels although the term overfished is not used (Wilson et al. 2009; NZMoF 2009). Scientific knowledge of Orange Roughy population dynamics remains relatively poor, and it is not yet clear whether recovery plans will be successful. No points were subtracted since management regimes are in place, however due to the life history characteristics of Orange Roughy, these plans will take many years to show marked improvement.

Orange Roughy fishing is well monitored in New Zealand. However, despite considerable research activity, uncertainties persist in relation to key biological characteristics, including population structure (Lack et al. 2003), relative and absolute abundance, and population productivity (Dunn 2007). Difficulty assessing stocks with acoustic and trawl data remains a problem for population managers, and lack of data remains a significant issue. Due to these uncertainties, no points were added.

In New Zealand, adjustments of Total Allowable Commercial Catches (TACCs) and in some cases, effective closures of certain Orange Roughy fishing grounds, have been employed as a management tool for rebuilding low Orange Roughy populations (NZMoF 2004b).

Bycatch in the Orange Roughy fishery is less than in many other trawl fisheries since aggregations around seamounts are primarily targeted (Lack et al. 2003), estimated at 25% of the total trawl catch (Anderson 2009). Main bycatch species in New Zealand fisheries are oreos, cardinalfish, hoki, deepwater dogfish, slickheads, rattails, and eels (Lack et al. 2003; Anderson 2009). Because any bycatch caught along with Orange Roughy are brought to the surface from great depths, there is probably 100% mortality of bycatch species induced by barotrauma (Lack et al. 2003).

Deep-sea sharks are caught as bycatch in Orange Roughy fisheries, with some species considered as “threatened” or “critically endangered” by the IUCN (Lack et al. 2003). For the remaining shark species there is insufficient data to make an assessment of their conservation status.

Deep-sea sharks, some which are listed on the IUCN Red List, are taken as incidental catch or bycatch in Orange Roughy fisheries (Lack et al. 2003). Excluding initiatives to reduce fishing effort to address overfishing, no management measures are being taken to manage and reduce shark bycatch in New Zealand Orange Roughy fisheries (NZMoF 2004b). Due to the lack of information on whether Orange Roughy fisheries are contributing to the decline of threatened and endangered deep-sea sharks, no points are deducted here.