NZ Sea lion death toll in squid nets jumps 57%

NZ sea lion pup births are down by 31%. Credit Forest and Bird.

July 2009. New Zealand's leading Conservation organisation, Forest & Bird, is shocked that 72 sea lions have been killed in squid fishing nets this year - 57 per cent more than last year.

Squid fishing boats are still fishing around the sub-Antarctic islands so it is likely that the sea lion death toll will rise even higher, Forest & Bird Marine Conservation Advocate Kirstie Knowles says.

In 2008, 46 sea lions were killed in squid nets - in which they get tangled and drown - and in 2007 56 sea lions were killed.

The Ministry of Fisheries has estimated a total of 72 sea lions had been killed by mid July. The squid trawl season usually runs from early February to early May but several boats are still fishing now - nine weeks longer than usual.

31% fewer pups born
"This year's 57 per cent rise in the death toll is bad news for the sea lion breeding season next summer," Kirstie Knowles says. "Alarmingly, last summer the Department of Conservation reported 600 females did not return to their breeding sites on the sub-Antarctic islands, and, 31 per cent fewer pups were born."

Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley originally allowed squid fishers to kill 113 sea lions this season. But squid fishers voluntarily reduced this to 95 after DOC's announcement of the lower pup numbers. Last year the limit was set at 81.

Forest & Bird wants the sea lion kill quota to be reduced to near zero to help the sea lion population recover. "It's reckless for squid fishers to continue fishing where they know sea lions feed. We'd like them to fish in other waters where there is a far lower risk of overlap with our threatened sea lions," Kirstie Knowles says.

Sea lions are also killed in other New Zealand fisheries, including the Southern blue whiting and scampi fisheries.

New Zealand sea lions were once found around mainland New Zealand coasts but now breed in a few colonies on sub-Antarctic islands and a few individuals on Otago beaches. They have been classified as a threatened species since 1997. Last year the World Conservation Union (IUCN) elevated their threat status by listing them as being in decline.