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29 May 2008
Minister's decision will not save dolphins, but will ruin lives
The Fisheries Minister's decision regarding dolphins will put New Zealanders out of business, destroy their savings and
- worst of all - will not save any additional dolphins, said New Zealand Seafood Council Chief Executive Owen Symmans.
In spite of Maui's dolphins being already effectively protected under the measures put in place in 2003 and no evidence
to suggest otherwise, the Government has decided to extend restrictions which will be ruinous to many fishermen, he
said. "The fishermen cannot catch fewer than none - we are appalled that the Minister can think it's alright to ruin
even one person's business and livelihood with an absolutely pointless and unnecessary measure to protect a dolphin that
is already fully protected."
There has never been a verified sighting of them outside the existing ban. There have never been any reported deaths of
Maui's dolphins from commercial trawling and since the 2003 measures, no deaths attributed to commercial setnetting. We
are already not catching Maui's dolphins - closing wider areas, where they do not range, is simply unjustifiable, he
said.
Statutory and voluntary measures already in place have reduced the likelihood of interactions with Hector's dolphin to
the point where commercial fishing should not endanger the population.
The Government is not prepared to compensate people for the huge personal losses caused by callous decisions. They are
obviously happy to ruin people lives and move on.
The industry is - and always has been - willing to work with the Ministers of Conservation and Fisheries to put in place
protection measures where there is a proven risk, Mr Symmans said. The problem with this decision is there is no proven
risk.
"If Government can provide credible evidence that a risk actually exists then industry would prefer to work together to
achieve meaningful mitigation.
"We accept the need for restrictions where the future of an endangered dolphin species is affected - but we cannot
stomach unnecessary and pointless restrictions," he said.
ENDS