Abstract
Hagfishes have been the target of commercial fisheries in many areas of the world, with the catch processed for leather and for human consumption. A fishery has been operating in New Zealand waters for the last six years, harvesting the bearded hagfish, Eptatretus cirrhatus. The fishery has thus far been unregulated. Based on samples collected dockside over a two-year period, this report expands the morphometric database for this species, provides information on the size and weight of the harvested animals, determines the sizes at the onset of gonadal development and the minimum sizes at sexual maturation for males and females, and indicates that E. cirrhatus, like most other hagfish species, has no specific breeding season. Although females appear in the population at smaller sizes, the sex ratio for mature animals is 1:1 and the sizes of the largest males and females are comparable. The changes observed in sex ratio as a function of TL suggest differences in the timing and rates of gonadal development in females versus males rather than protogyny. Based on the size of the eggs, the number of eggs per female, the proportion of the population that contains large eggs, and the number of postovulatory females, it is clear that E. cirrhatus, like other hagfish species, are potentially vulnerable to overexploitation.
Highlights
The hagfishes, or Myxinoidea, are worldwide in distribution, with 79 species described and at least 4 more awaiting formal description
For the last six years, E. cirrhatus populations in New Zealand have been the target of a smallscale commercial fishery supplying the Korean market with both fresh and frozen product
Comparable blotchy, mottled, piebald, and albino color variations were reported for Eptatretus burgeri [14] and seen in a feeding swarm of E. deani (Martini, unpublished observation)
Summary
The hagfishes, or Myxinoidea, are worldwide in distribution, with 79 species described and at least 4 more awaiting formal description. Hagfish populations can be very dense and have large energetic demands [3,4] that are collectively too high to be sustained by carrion scavenging alone. Several species of hagfish have significant commercial value. Eptatretus cirrhatus, the bearded hagfish, is relatively common in the coastal waters of New Zealand and southern Australia. For the last six years, E. cirrhatus populations in New Zealand have been the target of a smallscale commercial fishery supplying the Korean market with both fresh and frozen product. Over this period, the largest vessel was the 72 m F/V ShinJi, a Korean-flag vessel working under charter to Tuere Fisheries, Limited, of Christchurch. NZ Fisheries officers sometimes visited the ShinJi while it was offloading, landings were not closely monitored and this NZ fishery was unregulated
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