New Zealand's sea lion now endangered

Wednesday, 24 June 2015

Sea lions with their pups on Enderby Island in the sub-Antarctic Auckland Island chain. Experts say, now the species is endangered, squid fishing in the area should be reduced to prevent bycatch deaths.

New Zealand's sea lion is now considered endangered, and experts say the Government should shoulder some of the blame.

The sea mammal's continuing plight was highlighted when the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) released its latest Red List this week.

The IUCN said disease, habitat modification caused by fishing, and accidental death as a result of bycatch made the remaining population of around 10,000 animals one of the rarest sea lion species in the world.

Zoologist Bruce Robertson, of the University of Otago, said the Government chose to overlook the role the fishing industry is playing in the ongoing drop.

'Government ignored the expert panel and instead chose to back its own view that sea lion bycatch is no longer a factor in the population decline, despite lacking the evidence to conclude that mitigation devices are effective.'

Special trawl nets, with escape hatches designed for marine mammals to swim out through, were introduced recently to reduce bycatch. But Robertson said there was reason to believe those hatches actually let dead sea lions out, so bycatch deaths remained.

He disputed disease was a major factor. 'Current modelling we're doing at the University of Otago suggests it plays only a minor role.'

Conservation Minister Maggie Barry said the latest research suggested bycatch alone would not cause the rate of decline seen in the Auckland Islands population.

The Department of Conservation was putting together a sea lion threat management plan, due for completion in April next year, laying out measures to address threats such as bycatch, disease and resource competition, she said.

'Sea lion exclusion devices … are now compulsory on all squid vessels. The scientific consensus is that this has reduced the risk of bycatch. There is also a marine mammal sanctuary out to 12 nautical miles around the Auckland Islands.'

Seafood New Zealand chairman George Clement said it was concerned about the population decline, and actively supported measures to conserve the Auckland Islands sea lion.

He said bacterial disease Klebsiella pneumoniae had been killing pups in significant numbers over the past decade, and the industry was assisting the Government to work with vets on a solution.

'As an industry we've invested millions of dollars on research into the causes of the decline of this population.'