New Zealand’s sea-lions under threat from fishing

26/02/2007 00:00:00 While the official number of New Zealand sea lions the Government allows the southern squid trawl fishery to kill this season is 93, the actual death toll for sea lion mothers and their pups is much higher, Forest & Bird Conservation Advocate Kirstie Knowles says. While the official number of New Zealand sea lions the Government allows the southern squid trawl fishery to kill this season is 93, the actual death toll for sea lion mothers and their pups is much higher, Forest & Bird Conservation Advocate Kirstie Knowles says.

‘When a female sea lion is killed in a squid fishing net, she will almost certainly be pregnant, so the pup she is carrying will also die. Back on shore her pup, which is waiting for her to return, will slowly starve to death. So every mother sea lion killed actually represents three sea lion deaths.’

Threatened species
The New Zealand sea lion is listed as a threatened species under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and ‘vulnerable’ due to high risk of extinction, by the World Conservation Union. In recent years the sea lion population has been in steady decline, with an adult breeding population of just 5000. Pup production has declined by 30% since 1998.

‘The sea lion population cannot withstand the impact of the deaths of breeding females, their unborn pups and pups on shore. If it continues we risk pushing this endemic marine mammal towards extinction,’ Kirstie Knowles says.

Once common
Sea lions were once common right around New Zealand’s coast, but now breed only on sub-Antarctic Islands. If their population was able to recover, they could once again become more than a rare sight on the mainland. More than 2000 have been killed in fishing nets in the last 25 years.