Maui’s Death the Tragic Price of Inaction
Maui’s Death the Tragic Price of Inaction
Forest & Bird said today the reported death of
another Maui’s dolphin on the Taranaki coast underlines
the tragic failure of the government to act fast enough to
ensure the world’s rarest dolphin is saved from
extinction.
“The Minister of Primary Industries David Carter must use his emergency powers now to ensure there are no further deaths of Maui’s dolphins off the Taranaki coast. We are angry because he could have acted earlier,” Forest & Bird Marine Conservation Advocate Katrina Subedar said.
The Fairfax news website Stuff today reported a source saying the dead Maui’s dolphin was found on Thursday or Friday on a beach near Pungarehu, south of New Plymouth. It was collected by the Department of Conservation and a call taker on DOC’s hotline confirmed the death, Stuff reported.
In February, the death of a Maui’s
dolphin in a fishing net off the Taranaki coast in January
was belatedly confirmed by the government. Forest & Bird
urged the Minister of Primary Industries to use his
emergency powers to extend a ban on gill nets – the
greatest threat to the dolphins - to include the Taranaki
coast.
“This latest death shows the tragic cost
of failing to use these emergency powers. But the minister
can still act now to prevent any further deaths,” Forest &
Bird’s Marine Conservation Advocate Katrina Subedar
said.
Last month DOC’s latest population estimate
showed there were only around 55 Maui’s dolphins left –
excluding calves under a year old. This showed the
population had declined drastically since a population
estimate in 2004.
News of the population fall was
accompanied by a proposal from the Ministry of Agriculture
and Forestry to extend a ban on gill nets around the
Taranaki coast as an interim measure pending a review of
protection measures.
“These interim measures are
not due to come into effect until mid to late May after a
consultation. But the Maui’s dolphin population is on a
knife edge and the minister needs to act now,” Katrina
Subedar said.
“The threat of extinction facing
our Maui’s dolphins is gaining attention around the world
and if we fail to save them, our reputation for looking
after nature and our environment will be destroyed.”
Although a useful first measure, the extension of
the gill net ban to the Taranaki coast will not be enough to
ensure the survival of Maui’s dolphins. The ban needs to
be extended to all regions Maui’s dolphins may be found
and needs to include all harbours and seas in those areas up
to a depth of 100 metres.
The current gill net
prohibition area – excluding Taranaki – was put in place
along most of the upper half of the North Island’s west
coast in two stages over the last decade.
ENDS