Fishers back emergency closure for hoiho, piling pressure on ministers
Wednesday, 10 September 2025
Otago set-net fishers have announced a surprise voluntary closure of coastal waters to protect endangered yellow-eyed penguins, adding to pressure on ministers to urgently regulate protections for the species.
The industry confirmed on Wednesday it would immediately suspend set-netting between Taiaroa Head and Green Island, and restrict fishing to night-time only in all other Otago waters.
The extraordinary move is in support of a call by the Environmental Law Initiative (ELI), who has urged Government to impose an emergency three-month ban on set-netting during the penguin breeding season.
“We acknowledge the Environmental Law Initiative’s call for stronger, immediate action for hoiho,” said Chanel Gardner, the inshore fisheries representative.
“Our families are deeply committed; we have worked alongside community groups, and adapted our practices to reduce risk. This emergency voluntary closure is our fishers supporting ELI’s call to action and we are determined to be part of the solution.”
The region’s set-net industry is modest in scale but worth about $2 million annually to the regional economy. It operates under 100% observer and camera coverage and said verified captures of hoiho remain rare.
“Protecting hoiho has always been a collective effort,” Gardner said. “Tackling this challenge together – with measures that are fair, evidence-based, and effective – is the only way forward.”
But conservationists say voluntary steps are not enough to halt the seabird’s decline. The calls was sparked by a recent penguin starvation crisis.
ELI’s director of legal and research, Matt Hall, said: “The support of Otago set-net fishers for emergency closures shows action to urgently protect hoiho has broad backing, and it is time for ministers to act.”
He warned that without statutory regulation, closures could not be properly monitored or enforced, and might leave penguins exposed outside Otago.
“Any decisions about closures need to be regulated, so they can be properly monitored and implemented, as well as ensuring they cover the entirety of hoiho nesting and breeding habitat,” Hall said.
Hall accused Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones and Conservation Minister Tama Potaka of sitting on the decision for months, despite having legal duties to protect the species.
“The nesting season has already begun. Hoiho are now at their incubation stage, with nesting parents taking turns to forage up to 25 km from their nesting areas. We are concerned that any further delay in action will have irreversible consequences for hoiho.”
The Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust also urged the Government to step in.
“It’s great to hear the industry is engaged and prepared to take steps to protect hoiho at sea. It shows the whole community is unified in its concern for this taonga species,” said spokesperson Claudia Palmer.
“But until we see the official multi-threat assessment from Fisheries NZ, it’s unclear whether the proposed voluntary closure would be effective. Hoiho have a large range, and we must ensure the whole northern population has safe passage at sea.”
She warned closures must not simply displace risk into other foraging zones, and noted at least one hoiho has been caught at night.
“For us, that looks like a complete regulatory closure of set nets across the whole range,” Palmer said.
The yellow-eyed penguin is one of the rarest penguins in the world, with just 143 nests recorded on the mainland last season, an 80% collapse over the past 16 years.
Last year the last breeding female in the Sandfly Bay colony drowned in a set net, marking the functional extinction of that site.
Hall said ELI is also pressing the Government to set a zero mortality limit for hoiho deaths from fishing, through a population management plan.
“Beyond an emergency closure, we have asked Ministers to put in place a mortality limit of zero,” he said. “Ministers must act expeditiously to fulfil their legal obligations.”
Jones has been approached for comment.