Plan to stop accidental killing of seabirds won't go far enough to save them - Forest & Bird
Wednesday, 20 November 2019
Ninety per cent of the country's seabirds are in trouble, and environmentalists say commercial fishing activity is helping at least 14 species towards extinction.
Forest & Bird says a just-released Government plan to reduce the accidental kill of seabirds won't be enough to save them.
'Our seabirds need three things: A zero bycatch goal, binding actions to cut seabird bycatch year on year, and cameras or observers on all boats so that we know the job is being done,' Forest & Bird spokesperson Sue Maturin said.
'While some in the industry are doing their level best to reduce bycatch they are being dragged down by those who don't.'
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Maturin said rare or endangered birds were frequently caught on lines and in trawl nets.
'The plan does not require fisheries to achieve a year-on-year reduction in seabird deaths,' she said.
'Instead it has an objective that effectively means fishers will meet their targets … even if they catch more than 3000 birds a year.'
Penguin biologist John Cockrem said as bird numbers dropped every year the urgency was greater.
'The Hoiho population on the mainland is decreasing and, as the population gets lower, each individual bird becomes more important,' he said.
'A goal of zero bycatch is definitely something everybody should work towards.'
The proposed plan, the National Plan of Action for Seabirds, targets the number of seabirds caught in commercial fishing activities and is open for public feedback.
Fisheries New Zealand director of fisheries management Stuart Anderson said its focus remained reducing bycatch as much as possible, including trawl, longlining, and set net.
'The draft plan proposes a vision that New Zealand strives for no fishing-related seabird captures. Achieving this vision will require us to develop and refine bycatch mitigation techniques and technologies.'
Anderson said estimated captures had reduced by around 15 per cent in the last five years, but there was more work to do.
'The proposals will require risk management plans for all fishing vessels that are at risk of accidentally catching seabirds.'
Seafood New Zealand communications manager Lesley Hamilton said the seafood industry supported the Department of Conservation and Fisheries New Zealand's vision for no fishing-related deaths of seabirds.
'The industry will continue to do all it can to reduce seabird bycatch through careful vessel management, innovation and education.
'Most vessels already deploy seabird mitigation methods such as tori lines and night setting. Additionally, the industry initiated, and continues to work with DOC and Fisheries NZ, on deploying vessel-specific management plans across the entire fleet.'
Cameras alone will not reduce captures, and vessels operating from East Cape to Cape Reinga have operated cameras for four years, she said.
Their data showed seabird deaths had more than halved since 2002-2003.
'The seafood industry is constantly aiming to reduce seabird captures.'
Conservation minister Eugenie Sage said New Zealand was a global centre of seabird diversity - there's about 145 species in our waters.
'Seabirds are amongst the most threatened groups of birds globally. Fisheries bycatch is one of the greatest threats to many of them, along with invasive predators, disease, pollution, a changing climate and associated environmental change.'
The draft plan is under consultation until the end of January.