15 October 2007

Maui's Dolphin A Taonga: Greens

The Green Party has rebuked two northern iwi for buying hook, line and sinker into false information from the fishing industry, thereby threatening the extinction of Maui's dolphin.

"Ngati Whatua and Nga Puhi released statements on Friday that used claims straight out of the New Zealand Seafood Industry Council's own statements. In doing so, they are putting economic self-interest above environmental realities," Green Party Conservation and Fisheries Spokesperson Metiria Turei says.

"The Council compares current fishing with no fishing at all. That is madness: For all fish species caught using set-nets, there are alternative fishing methods that do not endanger the dolphins. This is not an either/or situation, as the Council would have us believe.

"The Council falsely claims Maui's dolphins do not come into harbours, but the draft Hector's and Maui's Dolphin Threat Management Plan describes recent verified sightings of Maui's dolphins inside the entrances to the Kaipara and Manukau Harbours.

"It is unscientific of the Council to claim that the main problems are 'disease and predation'. Maui's dolphins have always faced these threats but today their population has collapsed. What has changed is our fishing practices," Ms Turei says.

This is a fact based on scientific data. The draft Threat Management Plan states: "The DOC incident database indicates that 32 percent of the total reported incidents, and 63 percent of incidents where the cause of death was able to be assessed, are attributable to set net entanglement; indicating that set netting is the greatest known cause of human-induced Hector's dolphin mortalities."

Mrs Turei says: "The sad fact is that with a population of just 110, the death of one Maui's dolphin could push them to extinction. We must prevent this if we can. Set nets and trawlers kill dolphins, and by restricting their use we can prevent further deaths.

"The outrageous and manipulative claims currently being used by the Seafood Industry Council reflect badly on the industry's supposed commitment to sustainable fisheries. The Green Party is not against fishing, however, when fishing threatens biodiversity, we must act according to the principles of kaitiakitanga and preserve our taonga for the future. Surely none of us, Maori or Pakeha, want our precious marine mammal species to become extinct at our own hand."

ENDS

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