25 August 2005
Government responds to Greens' Albatross billboard
The Greens are congratulating the Fisheries Minister for developing the first Government strategy to address the effects
of fishing on our endangered species.
"I'm delighted the Government has read and understood our 'albatross' election billboards, which, with a pic of one of
the giant sea birds, says 'Free in the wild? Or dead in the water? Its your vote'," Green Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons
says.
Fisheries Minister David Benson-Pope launched the Strategy for Managing the Environmental Effects of Fishing at the 2005
Conference of the New Zealand Marine Sciences Society yesterday.
"While this move shows that the current Labour-led Government has realised the urgency of the situation, the key to the
success of the strategy will be how quickly the new rules can be put in place and enforced. Setting the standard is the
last of eight steps they have identified and that is only the start of actually protecting anything. We can't afford to
wait until the key species are extinct.
"Whether this new strategy will, even then, actually protect our albatrosses, Hector's dolphin, sea lions and rare coral
forests will depend on how high the standards are, whether there are independent observers on the boats and independent
verification of the industry's environmental impact assessment processes, and whether there are real penalties for
non-compliance - not fines, but an end to fishing for that season.
"We look forward to working with Labour to implement these key Green policies.
"But all of this may be at risk if National takes the Treasury benches. In the most recent issue of its newsletter
Conservation News, Forest and Bird rate the parties on their stated public positions on a number of conservation issues.
The Greens get a tick from Forest and Bird in all sixteen categories, including double ticks in the four marine
conservation areas, and Labour gets ticks in thirteen areas.
"By comparison, National gets ticks in only three areas, so it's clear that a Don Brash-led Government would seriously
compromise conservation values, something that New Zealanders who care about our endangered species should keep in mind
when they vote," Ms Fitzsimons says.
See Forest and Bird's 'where the parties stand on the environment' at
http://www.forestandbird.org.nz/publications/consnews/2005august.pdf
ENDS