Incorporating recreational catch estimates in stock assessment models remains challenging due to i) a lack of catch estimates prior to the commencement of surveys and ii) potential reporting biases in survey results. The Victorian Fisheries Authority (VFA) has been conducting a recreational tagging program to estimate recreational southern rock lobster catches for the last two seasons. Uptake and compliance with tagging has been high, however reporting of tag usage has been more problematic with the fate of 30,419 of the 92,326 tags issued in the first (2017/18) season remaining unknown. This project will develop a protocol for incorporating recreational catch estimates in a robust manner that increases model accuracy and robustness to future changes in recreational catch whilst promoting stakeholder confidence in the utilised approach.