Ministry for Primary Industries denies claims of Maui's dolphin death cover-up

Friday, 13 May 2016

A government department has denied claims by German environmentalists that a near-extinct breed of New Zealand dolphin died in a fishing net and the incident was then covered-up.

German conservation group Nabu International claimed officials from the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) and fishermen concealed the death of a Māui's dolphin during the 2012/13 fishing season.

According to the World Wildlife Fund only around 55 Māui's dolphin remain and their habitat is thought to include large areas of the Taranaki coastline.

Although there have been no sightings of the breed in the region for many years, a number of commercial net restrictions are in place from Maunganui Bluff to Hawera to protect them.

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Nabu International claimed it had evidence that a dolphin died after becoming caught in a gillnet - a wall of netting - outside the protected area.

The incident did not appear in the official bycatch database and was denied by Government officials and industry representatives, Nabu International claimed.

'The document we secured describes that MPI officials failed to record the dolphin's death and sought to suppress the incident by informing the eyewitness on board the fishing vessel that he 'had seen nothing',' Thomas Tennhardt, the organisation's CEO, said.

'When we sought clarification from New Zealand's Ministry for Primary Industries we were assured that we were mistaken.'

Nabu International said less than a fifth of Maui's dolphin habitat was protected from gillnets and only five per cent from trawling.

It claimed that had the dolphin's death been made public it would have sparked demands for further fishing restrictions.

'The New Zealand Government has gone to great lengths to convince the public that Māui's dolphins are well protected, that none are seen outside the protected area or caught in nets,' Dr Barbara Maas, Head of Endangered Species Conservation at Nabu International, said.

'Today's news represents a serious breach of trust and does not bode well for Maui's dolphin survival.

'We call for the immediate extension of the protected area to cover all of the dolphins' habitat.'

Nabu International has yet to respond to a request for more information.

The Ministry for Primary Industries' director of fisheries management, Dave Turner, denied the claims.

'The allegations made by Dr Maas lack any substantiation. If she has any evidence we ask her to bring them forward so we can investigate,' Turner said.

He said the group had placed the dolphins at greater risk by failing to provide details for an investigation.

'Since 2012 MPI have conducted 1,961 at sea observer days off the West Coast of the North Island. No captures or sightings have been observed,' Turner said.

'The last capture of a Māui or Hector dolphin occurred in 2012. As a result of that capture even greater restrictions were placed on the fishing fleet to the point where we now have around 8,300 km2 closed to trawl fishing and 15,000 km2 closed to set netting on the North and South Island to protect Māui and Hector's dolphins.

'If there is evidence of MPI employees' suppressing evidence of Māui dolphin deaths she should bring it to us – because this would be totally unacceptable and we would act on it.

'If she, or anybody else, feels they cannot bring this evidence to us, then they should take it to the police.'

He added: 'The allegations are made specifically about our observers and their integrity.

'These people do a remarkable, and often difficult, job helping maintain New Zealand's sustainable fisheries and they do not deserve this type of unsubstantiated allegation.'