Maui’s dolphin campaign: the domino effect in action
7 June 2007

Support is rapidly building for the critically endangered Maui’s dolphin. In the last month Manukau City Council and Auckland City Council have joined the fight for swift action. This means that seven of the eight regional councils are offering weighty support at a critical stage in the campaign to save the Maui’s dolphin.

The Maui’s dolphin is a native of the west coast of the North Island and is a close relative of the Hector’s dolphin. Just 30 years ago the combined population of Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins was 30,000. Now there are less than 7000 Hector’s dolphins and just over 100 Maui’s.

Auckland Regional Council (ARC) Deputy Chair Councillor Christine Rose, who is leading the campaign for the ARC, says there is a
huge amount of public interest in this campaign.

“People understand that if we act now, we can reverse this situation. It may take two hundred years, but it is one legacy we will be happy to leave,” she says.

Things are happening quickly. The Ministry of Fisheries is in preliminary consultation with all affected parties. Last week ministry officials met with commercial and recreational fishermen region-wide. Meanwhile Department of Conservation officers met stakeholders at its conservancy in Auckland. This week Forest and Bird, with backing from powerful coastal Iwi, will be presenting their plans for a marine mammal sanctuary.

“It is encouraging to see things moving so swiftly. Everyone, it seems, understands that this is a critical situation, “ says Cr Rose.

Set nets are considered to be the main cause of the species’ decline as Maui’s become entangled and once trapped are unable to reach the surface to breathe – they drown in minutes. The ARC, with support from the other local councils is calling for an extended set net ban. ‘For policy to be most effective it should be nationally consistent,” explains Cr Rose.

A partial set net ban already exists from New Plymouth to Northland including the Manukau Harbour mouth but this excludes critical parts of the Maui’s reported habitat.

With the world’s fisheries in rapid decline, forward thinking nations are clearly already alert to the need to change age-old damaging practices in order to ensure the future of marine life.

ENDS

NOTES FOR EDITORS

* New Zealand’s very own Maui’s dolphin is the smallest of the world’s 32 dolphin species. With their ‘mini’ size (they weigh just 50kg), rounded shape, little black dorsal fin and unusual eye patch these animals are distinctive and special.

* Found only off the West Coast of the North Island of New Zealand from Northland to New Plymouth, they are related to the more common yet still endangered Hector’s dolphin found in small populations around the South Island.

* Set and gill nets are internationally regarded as a great threat to marine life as they are indiscriminate in their catch. Bans on set and gill net fishing already exist in the US, Canada, Australia and alternatives have been successfully adopted. Despite this, these nets are regularly used recreationally and commercially in New Zealand.

* Set nets are locked down onto the sea bed and gill nets are anchored to the back of trawlers. Non-target catch on these nets can be as high as 72% and if they break free and exist as ‘ghost nets’ they are a threat to marine life for years.

* In addition to a change in fishing practices, the ARC with support from the other councils supports Forest & Bird’s plan to establish a marine mammal sanctuary for the Maui’s. In 1988 the Department of Conservation (DOC) established a sanctuary off the Banks Peninsula to protect the Hector’s dolphin from gill net entanglement. However recent research has shown that the dolphins’ range is far greater than the reserve area and the ARC feels that a mammal sanctuary must work in partnership with an extended set and gill net ban.

ENDS

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