12. Chatham Rise
Map ID Number: 12
Location: East of South Island
Approximate area: 261,904km2
Description of area:
Long submarine ridge connecting the South Island and Chatham Islands.
Biological attributes:
The Chatham Rise is a highly productive area, which results in high abundance of many species, especially hoki (Macruronus novaezelandiae), orange roughy (Hoplostethus atlanticus), and oreos (Oreosomatidae). The northern and eastern margins of the rise are diversity hotspots. There is a strong north-south gradient in fish abundance across the rise. Some species occur only on northern and eastern margins, while some are only found on the southern margin.
Criteria applied:
Species diversity; species richness; trophic/ functional diversity; representation (i.e. across physical types); degree of disturbance; species with a global distribution but New Zealand is a stronghold/ signifi cant; seasonal/migratory importance; unusual degree/ proportion of biomass; aggregations; meeting ground – overlap between biological regions (at national and global regions level).
Status and management:
The Chatham Rise is one of the most heavily trawled parts of the New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone.
State of information:
The fish fauna has been intensively studied by research trawl surveys
References and further reading:
Anderson et al. (1998), Bull et al. (2001), Hurst et al. (2000a, 2000b), Livingston et al. (2003), O’Driscoll et al. (2003).