New Zealand Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is the area of sea and seabed that extends from 12 to 200 nautical miles offshore. It is the fifth largest EEZ (approximately 430 million hectares) in the world, about 15 times the size of our land mass. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Knowledge of recruitment dynamics, and in particular trends in recruitment and recruitment variability, are key inputs for integrated assessments of fish stocks. A quantitative longline survey monitoring the recruitment of Antarctic toothfish (Dissotichus mawsoni) in the southern Ross Sea was started in 2012. The survey was expanded in 2016 to monitor trends and biological characteristics in two areas of importance to predators, Terra Nova Bay and McMurdo Sound, and to collect data that would contribute to the research and monitoring plan for the Ross Sea region Marine Protected Area. In most years, the survey was completed as planned, while in three years several factors have constrained the survey from sampling all stations and in the latest two seasons pandemic travel restrictions have necessitated an alternative delivery approach. Between 2012 and 2022, 2 056 tagged Antarctic toothfish have been released on the survey and 21 toothfish have been recaptured. Fifteen pop-up satellite archival tags (PSATs) were deployed on D. mawsoni in 2019 and fifteen skates were tagged in 2020 and 2021. Many tagged toothfish released from the RSSS move from the shelf to the slope. Trends in abundance indices and size and age composition consistently show the progression of strong year classes entering and leaving the survey area and have indicated that recruitment is likely more variable than previously thought. Data from the RSSS have been used to indicate year class strength in Antarctic toothfish stock assessments since 2015. The twelve surveys to date have resulted in a substantive increase in the knowledge and understanding of the distribution and relative abundance of a range of demersal fish species and invertebrate taxa caught on the longlines. Other data routinely collected on the surveys were plankton, temperature, salinity, air quality, cetacean and other marine mammal observations, and photo, video, and echosounder data. The RSSS has provided synergies with other research programmes also addressing CCAMLR objectives, particularly those focused on research and monitoring within the RSrMPA. GET DATA: https://www.ccamlr.org/en/publications/statistical-bulletin

This metadata record represents environmental data at Cape Evans. Conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD), photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and currents were measured at ~20-meter depth for 12 months to characterise variability in the nearshore habitat. These instruments form part of the Antarctic Nearshore and Terrestrial Observation Systems (ANTOS). The combined analyses of coastal currents and sea ice conditions with genetic and trophic data were used to understand the influence of key drivers on the interconnectedness of existing Ross Sea populations, and on the resilience of key benthic species to environmental change. Mooring Coordinates: Cape Evans (-77.63491667, 166.41405) GET DATA: https://antosdb.org

The oceanographic mooring (-77.891050, 166.258333) provide year-round characterisation of the water column. This collection includes: - 11 instruments - Temperature logger (SBE56) x8, 1 year deployment, 1-minute intervals - x3 SBE37 units continuosly recorded temperature, conductivity, and pressure (CTD) at 2-minute intervals Data were captured in full resolution, processed in Matlab, and converted to .dat and Matlab formats. Each temperature logger record was assigned a timeseries of depths corresponding to a straight-line linear fit between the measured upper and lower reference points – either pressure records from the SBE37 units, or from the measured seabed for the lower unit. GET DATA: natalie.robinson@niwa.co.nz

This metadata record represents environmental data from two coastal locations at Granite Harbour. Conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD), photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and currents were measured at ~20-meter depth for 12 months to characterise variability in the nearshore habitat. These instruments form part of the Antarctic Nearshore and Terrestrial Observation Systems (ANTOS). The combined analyses of coastal currents and sea ice conditions with genetic and trophic data were used to understand the influence of key drivers on the interconnectedness of existing Ross Sea populations, and on the resilience of key benthic species to environmental change. Mooring Coordinates: Granite Harbour (-77.01594444, 162.87616667) GET DATA: https://antosdb.org