International Scientists Speak Out For Dolphins
Conservation group Care for the Wild International (CWI) today drew attention to the international scientific
community’s statements supporting the urgent improvements required to ensure the survival of the Hector’s and Maui’s
dolphins. Both the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Species Survival Commission Cetacean Specialist
Group (IUCN SSC CSG) and the Society of Marine Mammalogy (SMM) have called on the Government to take the strongest
possible measures to ensure the survival of these endangered New Zealand’s dolphins.
CWI’s Chief Executive Dr Barbara Maas says, “With the Government’s decision on its Threat Management Plan for Hector’s
and Maui’s dolphins (TMP) imminent, the world’s leading marine mammal scientists have told the Government that current
measures to protect Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins against fishing impact are inadequate and that nets need to be removed
from the animals’ habitat to address their extinction threat. This means at least the adoption of Option 3 in the
Government’s TMP.”
In a letter to Helen Clark, SMM President Dr John Reynolds urges the Government to consider that Hector's dolphins are
amongst the best-studied species of marine mammals, that current measures are inadequate and that ‘management action
does not need to wait for further research’.
The Society for Marine Mammology (SMM) is the world’s largest professional group of marine mammal experts and consists
of some 2,000 scientists from 60 countries, dedicated to the understanding and conservation of marine mammals and their
ecosystems.
“The scientific evidence is very clear. The primary threat to both sub-species is bycatch in commercial and recreational
gill net fisheries and trawl fisheries,” says Dr Reynolds.
The IUCN’s Cetacean Specialist Group is an international network of some 85 professional marine mammal scientists with
expertise in the conservation of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises). It too recommends the ‘adoption of Option
three (for both gillnetting and trawling) throughout the range of Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins’, but points out that
even Option 3 has considerable shortcomings.
While Option 3 offers the more protection for the dolphins than the alternatives, the IUCN CSG notes that it does not
include the entire current range of South Island Hector’s dolphins, nor does it include the entire historic range of
Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins. This is crucial for population recovery, which requires habitat for populations to recover
into.
The Cetacean Specialist Group also cautions against Option 2 because it offers a complex mix of measures that will be
difficult to enforce and makes quantitative assessments of its effectiveness almost impossible.
Dr Maas says, “These comments should finally silence those who have tried to use pseudo-scientific arguments in defence
of inaction for so long. They also confirm what Care for the Wild has been saying all along. Significant increases in
the nature and extent of the spatial protection are required to limit the risk of extinction for Maui's dolphin and to
improve the conservation status of all Hector's dolphin populations.
“Clearly, the time to act is now. There is no need to undertake more research; in fact any further delay would
substantially increase the risk of extinction.
“The world’s leading marine mammal scientists have high expectations of New Zealand. They are looking to the Government
to provide leadership on this critical conservation issue in the hope that New Zealand’s actions will continue to set a
global standard for the effective conservation of the world’s whales, dolphins and porpoises. If such action is not
forthcoming, there will be questions about New Zealand’s credibility and reputation, not just at the International
Whaling Commission,” Dr Maas said.
ENDS