Protect Hector's and Maui's dolphins

Protect Hector's and Maui's dolphins

Dear Sir/Madam,

Like the Kiwi, Hector’s dolphins are unique to New Zealand’s and a living symbol of its heritage and national identity. In conservation terms, the status of Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins is a great deal more pressing, due to lower numbers and continued population decline. But unlike Kiwis, of which there are more than 70,000, Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins find themselves in conflict with a powerful industry. As a result, ensuring the survival of this species requires a genuine commitment to national and international biodiversity on the part of your government.

Since the introduction of nylon filament fishing nets in the 1970s, Hector’s dolphin numbers have fallen by more than 75% from 29,000 to some 7,000. The species is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which means it is “facing a high risk of extinction in the near future”. With only some 111 animals left on earth, the situation of the North Island subspecies, the Maui’s dolphin, is even more critical. Unless these animals are fully protected against fisheries bycatch, extinction is inevitable. It is therefore imperative that your government takes decisive measures to ensure the survival of this vanishing species.
Scientists have documented and warned about the persistent downward trend in this species for more than a decade. The world’s largest bodies of marine mammal experts, the IUCN Species Survival Commission Cetacean Specialist Group and The Society for Marine Mammology reaffirmed research that has consistently highlighted the acuteness of the threat of gill net and trawl fishing without which, Hector’s and Maui’s dolphin numbers could grow to 15,000 in 50 years. Together conservationists and scientists have therefore called for urgent measures to ensure recovery by eliminating bycatch mortality.

New protection measures introduced in 2008 brought about improvements. Crucially however, they fell short of what is required to reverse the downward trend and allow the species to recover.
Recently research by Drs Slooten and Dawson from Otago University, published in Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems, clearly shows that Hector’s dolphins continue to die faster than they can breed, once again underscoring the need for urgent remedial action. Your government’s own data from independent fisheries observers is in line with these conclusions. The Department of Conservation recently released details of ten Hector's and Maui’s deaths which occurred in the past six months. Two were confirmed drowned in commercial fishing nets by official fisheries observers, and one was found washed up on a beach with net marks. This high number of reported deaths provides vital proof that the 2008 protection measures are not effective.

New Zealand’s fishing lobby has been consistent in its opposition to enhanced protection and bycatch monitoring for Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins. Despite overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, it has denied that net entanglements are the biggest threat to the species and that populations are declining. Twice it challenged much needed protection measures in court; most recently the new regulations introduced in 2008. In doing so the industry is shirking its responsibility to protect one of the rarest mammals on earth to defend its commercial interests. Yet gill netting contributes less 1% to New Zealand’s fishing revenue and most fishing boats that use gillnets also use other methods. Similarly, only a very small proportion of recreational fishers use gillnets.

The Minister of Fisheries is currently reconsidering protection for this acutely endangered species, which forms an integral part of the world’s biodiversity. Like many others, I feel strongly that the Minister’s decision should not weaken existing measures, which are already insufficient to achieve recovery. Much stronger protection and improved monitoring of fishing related dolphin deaths are needed to ensure fishing does not continue to cause further population declines. Your government’s own observers, as well as a host of published and peer reviewed research, clearly show that the species remains unprotected in many areas, while protection in other areas includes less than one third of the dolphins’ offshore range for a few months of the year. Moreover, most areas still have no protection from entanglement in trawl nets, or prohibit trawling for less than a third of the dolphins’ offshore range. This means there is still a major overlap between Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins and trawl fisheries.

With the fishing threat unresolved and dolphin numbers still in decline, it is imperative to avoid any additional man made impacts, including that of potentially lethal invasive research. Your government is currently considering a proposal, which involves a host of severe stressors, including chasing and catching the dolphins, removing them from their group and from the water, bringing them onboard a boat, handling them and drilling holes into their dorsal fins to bolt on a tag. These procedures have lead to the death of targeted individuals in other dolphin species as a result of stress, injury and infection. They therefore carry a documented risk compared to non-invasive techniques, whilst providing no additional conservation benefits.

In view of the above, I appeal to you most strongly to improve Hector’s and Maui’s dolphin protection by eliminating gillnet and trawl fishing from the dolphins’ habitat and by declining applications for risky invasive research as a matter of urgency. To do so is consistent with New Zealand’s reputation as an environmentally responsible nation.

Sincerely,

[Your name]