Updated poaching trends until 2024 for West Coast rock lobster

<p dir="ltr">Updated results are given for an approach which simultaneously models the “old” and the “new” poaching databases, as recommended by the International Panel for the 2018 International Fisheries Stock Assessment Workshop, with poaching data for lobster for 2024 now included. These results are compared to those obtained previously, with poaching data up to 2023. The 2024 poaching index estimated for the southern Super-area 8+ shows a statistically significant increase compared to 2023. In the case of the northern Super-areas (3-7), a statistically significant decrease is evident. The three-point smoothing approach adopted previously is used for converting the poaching series obtained into the outputs to be used for the series to be input to the assessments.</p>