Net ban may be last hope for New Zealand’s most endangered dolphins

24/03/2011 15:56:09 Mixed bag of protection for New Zealand's endangered dolphins
March 2011. New Zealand's Maui's dolphins finally got protection they so desperately need, with the announcement that fishing restrictions agreed in 2008 have been confirmed.

Fisheries minister Phil Heatley announced on 18th March that a ban on set netting and trawl fishing to 7 nautical miles offshore covering parts of the west coast of the North Island frequented by the remaining Maui's dolphins, will remain in place.

Objections from fishing industry
The decision, which followed a judicial review triggered by objections from New Zealand's fishing industry, will help to minimise the risk of Maui's dolphins becoming entangled in fishing gear. It will operate alongside more widespread restrictions on set netting and trawling around New Zealand's coasts introduced in 2008.

However, the Minister also announced an exemption to the set net ban for butterfish fishing in inshore waters along parts of the North West coast of the South Island, risking entanglement of endangered Hector's dolphins living in that area.

While not perfect, the restrictions now in place represent the highest level of protection achieved to date for these unique marine mammals, and follow years of campaigning and lobbying by Care for the Wild International and others.

Just 7000 Hector's left
Hector's dolphins are thought to number around 7,000, a reduction of over 70% in the past 40 years. The populations have also become fragmented, effectively reducing the species to a number of small, isolated groups.

100 Maui's dolphins left
The total population of Maui's dolphins, a subspecies of Hector's dolphins which inhabit inshore waters off the west coast of the North Island, has reduced by more than 90% over the past 3 generations to its current level of just over 100 individuals. Maui's dolphins are classified as Critically Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The main cause of these disastrous population crashes has been the massive growth in inshore fishing over recent decades, with dolphins becoming entangled in set and trawl nets and dying from asphyxiation.

While celebrating the protection afforded by the fishing restrictions, Care for the Wild International continues to work closely with our New Zealand partner the Environmental Defence Society (EDS), to secure further protection in areas currently exempted from the fishing restrictions. EDS are advising local councils in New Zealand of their obligations under environmental legislation, which we hope will further improve protection for the dolphins and for other coastal marine life from the threats posed by fisheries and other human activities.