Auckland, 1 August 2012 life
New Government guidelines for seismic oil exploration will fail to protect New Zealand marine life, says Greenpeace.
The Government's Code of Conduct for minimising impacts of seismic testing were announced late this afternoon.
Seismic testing is known to cause harm to whales and dolphins (1). The acoustic noise from seismic testing can injure or
kill marine life when in close proximity. The sound can be detected up to 3000 kilometres away. Seismic testing also has
an impact on marine migration, feeding, communication and reproduction (2).
Greenpeace New Zealand Political Advisor Nathan Argent said it was likely seismic testing would continue in ecologically
sensitive areas regardless of the Government’s guidelines.
“Greenpeace has deep reservations about the effectiveness of the Code of Conduct as it’s a voluntary scheme. In other
countries such as the UK and Australia, they are mandatory,” he said.
Under the Code there are no requirements to conduct environmental impact assessments or to inform local communities
before exploration work starts. Despite the known effects that seismic testing can have on whale, dolphin and fish
populations, there are no provisions to establish liability or to levy fines.
The Government has proposed that the Code be incorporated under the proposed EEZ Bill, which has been widely criticised
for failing to meet New Zealand's international legal obligations to ‘protect and preserve’ the marine environment.
“This Code will do nothing to protect our marine life and ocean ecosystems from reckless deep water oil exploration,”
said Argent.
“Our relationship with the sea is vital to New Zealanders. Around one million Kiwis are recreational fishers, and the
vast majority of us spend some time in or on the ocean. All deep sea oil and gas exploration in the EEZ should be
prohibited,” Argent says.
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