Fecundity estimates were made from 70 late‐vitellogenic orange roughy captured from the Kaikoura Coast during May 1986; Absolute fecundities ranged from 26 000 to 90 000, with a relative fecundity of 22 000 eggs per kg body‐weight. Both relative and absolute fecundities are one to two orders of magnitude lower than in six other commercially exploited New Zealand species. The comparatively lower fecundity of orange roughy combined with an apparently high age at maturity make this species potentially Susceptible to overfishing.