Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Sea Shepherd New Zealand Ltd., and Sea Shepherd Legal (collectively, Sea Shepherd)
refuse to allow New Zealand’s Māui dolphin to follow the same tragic path as the vaquita in Mexico. Today, Sea Shepherd
took decisive action to defend the Māui dolphin by formally demanding that the Trump Administration immediately ban all
imports from New Zealand fisheries that are driving the Māui dolphin to extinction.
Endemic to New Zealand, the Māui dolphin population has been decimated – a victim of bycatch in fisheries using gillnets
and trawls. The Māui dolphin is the world’s most endangered marine dolphin. In fact, because most scientists consider
the Baiji (a.k.a. the Chinese river dolphin) to be extinct, the Māui dolphin is likely the most endangered dolphin in
the world.
The Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) estimates that there are only 57 Māui dolphins
remaining — down from approximately 2,000 in 1971. Unless action is taken immediately, the Māui dolphin will disappear
forever.
The IWC, leading scientists, and even the New Zealand government all agree that the chief cause of this alarming
population decline is bycatch in New Zealand fisheries.
It is an unfortunate fact that global consumers of New Zealand’s seafood exports are hastening the Māui dolphin’s slide
into oblivion. Among the culprits is the U.S. seafood market, which routinely imports between 25,000 and 50,000 kilos of
New Zealand snapper per month. The snapper fishery is known to use gear that ensnares Māui dolphins – and this is just
one fishery among many that incidentally capture Māui dolphins.
Fortunately, we have a legal tool at our disposal to push for an import ban and encourage New Zealand to take immediate
steps to save the Māui dolphin. The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) is a U.S. law that aims to reduce bycatch of
marine mammals — not just in U.S. waters, but globally. Recognizing that the U.S. is a major seafood importer, Congress,
through the MMPA, chose to prohibit imports from foreign fisheries that fail to prevent bycatch of marine mammals in
line with U.S. standards.
There is no question that New Zealand fails to meet such standards in the case of the Māui dolphin. The current bycatch
of Maui dolphins is estimated to be 2 to 4 individuals per year. This bycatch number is unnerving; the IWC Scientific
Committee has concluded that “[the] human-caused death of even one individual would increase the extinction risk.”
As the U.S. government has neglected to take action on its own accord, Sea Shepherd submitted a petition for emergency
rulemaking demanding that the government fulfill its MMPA obligations.
If the responsible U.S. agencies do not respond appropriately, Sea Shepherd will seek redress in court.