Bycatch limits ‘far too high’

Advocates are concerned new measures aimed at stopping the South Island’s vulnerable Hector’s dolphins ending up as fishing bycatch have increased the acceptable number of dolphin deaths in two parts of Canterbury from Government’s original proposal.

On Wednesday, Oceans and Fisheries Minister David Parker unveiled three changes aimed at protecting the species, which will be implemented by the end of the year. It was the first time a fishing-related mortality limit has been applied to Hector dolphins.

The 2020 commercial and recreational set-net fishing ban area around Banks Peninsula will be further extended, and an extra 1100km2 of South Island coastline will be closed to set-netting – protecting 17,600km2 in total.

Trawl closures and gear restrictions will also cover more than 6900km2 of coastline.

Parker said a new bycatch reduction plan would also be applied to all South Island Hector’s dolphin subpopulations.

One of the smallest marine mammals in the world, Hector’s dolphins are found only in New Zealand’s waters and are considered nationally vulnerable, with a population of about 15,000.

Their North Island subspecies, the Ma¯ ui’s dolphin, is critically endangered, with as few as 54 left.

The key focus was on implementing a plan to reduce accidental catch of Hector’s dolphins in the long term, Parker said.

‘‘[The plan] sets regulatory limits for bycatch so that I can act quickly and impose further restrictions if necessary.’’

But this limit, which allows 46 dolphins a year on the South Island’s east coast to end up as accidental fishing bycatch, left advocates with grave concerns.

In the original 2020 consultation document, it was proposed six dolphin deaths per year in Otago was an acceptable level. But in his decision letter, Parker said concerns about the size of the Otago population led him to reduce that limit to two.

He allocated the four-dolphin difference to Banks Peninsula and Timaru, up from 18 and 10 deaths per year, to 20 and 12 respectively.

Advocacy group Ma¯ui and Hector’s Dolphin Defenders said the extended set-netting closures don’t go far enough.

The plan relied on ‘‘unproven voluntary measures’’ and a ‘‘bycatch target’’ which increased the number of dolphins that could acceptably die in fishing nets in Banks Peninsula and Timaru, on what was first proposed, chairperson Christine Rose said.

Green MP Eugenie Sage said the fishing-related mortality limits of 20 Hector’s dolphin around Banks Peninsula, 12 off the Timaru coast, seven off the Kaiko¯ ura coast and five in Marlborough’s Cloudy and Clifford Bays were far too high.

Parker said the fishingrelated mortality limit was not a target.

‘‘The focus of the plan is working with fishers to ensure bycatch numbers trend towards zero and never reach the limits that have been set.’’