Māui, Hector's dolphins: Government stands by controversial protection plan
Monday, 24 June 2019
OPINION: Some of the world's rarest marine mammals live in our backyard, and we want people's views on the best way to protect them.
Last week the Government reached out to the public for feedback on its long term plan to protect Hector's and Māui dolphins.
Māui dolphins in particular are in a perilous position – there are only about 63 of them left. There are about 15000 Hector's and they are classified as nationally vulnerable.
Fisheries New Zealand and the Department of Conservation have pulled together the best available scientific evidence about the risks to these dolphins, which draws on a range of new data and helps us to decide where to focus our efforts to protect them.
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*** On-board cameras for commercial fishing boats that encounter rare Māui dolphins
* Department of Conservation's threats report 'flawed system', say marine advocates**
Now, we want to hear what people have to say on a range of options in three areas:
- Restrictions to fishing in areas where the dolphins live
- Developing a plan to tackle the threat from the disease toxoplasmosis
- Restrictions to seabed mining and seismic activity
We've worked on these proposals as well as co-ordinating the science and other information which underpins them. This work gives us our clearest picture yet of where the risks are, and what to do about them.
There has been debate among some scientists about the scale of risk presented by the disease toxoplasmosis. We welcome this as an important part of the scientific process, and further research has been included as one of the priorities in the plan to help address uncertainty.
We stand by the rigour of our scientific risk assessment, and think it gives us a good basis to put options before the public.
Having said that, complete scientific consensus is rare, and if we continue to debate the finer points until everyone agrees, there's a good chance there will be no Māui dolphins left to save.
It's important, given the threatened status of the dolphins, to address as many of the threats to their survival as possible. Toxoplasmosis is a confirmed cause of death in both Hector's and Māui dolphins, so we are also proposing the development of a toxoplasmosis action plan to address this threat to the dolphins.
The options for directly addressing risks from fishing range from moderate additions to existing restrictions through to significant additional closures.
There are currently 15,000 square kilometres of New Zealand waters closed to set netting, and 8000 square kilometres with trawl restrictions.
At the higher end of the range, the options would add restrictions of 21,700 square kilometres to commercial and recreational set netting (109 per cent increase) and 20,800 square kilometres to trawling (or a 285 per cent increase).
The consultation also includes proposals to extend the boundaries of the West Coast North Island Marine Mammal Sanctuary south to Wellington and for the Banks Peninsula Marine Mammal Sanctuary to extend north to Kaikōura, south to Timaru, and offshore to 20 nautical miles.
In considering these options, we must not lose sight of the fact that any closures will affect people and their livelihoods. These are tough decisions that need to be made. Through the consultation we want people to help us better understand the opportunities and risks alongside each of the proposals.
We encourage people to go to the Fisheries New Zealand or Department of Conservation website, find out more about what we're proposing and make your voice heard.
Stuart Anderson is the director of fisheries management at Fisheries New Zealand. Ian Angus is the manager of marine species and threats at the Department of Conservation.