Boat cameras too little too late
National MP Sarah Dowie labelled last week’s announcement that cameras would be placed on 28 commercial fishing boats as a disappointing backdown and another broken promise from the coalition Government.
The previous National Government had proposed requiring more than 70 per cent of the commercial fleet to comply with an in-depth digital monitoring system, which she said would have made a tangible difference in protecting seabirds, marine wildlife and fisheries.
The current Government had stalled those changes, and had now watered them down significantly, proposing cameras on 28 of the more than 1000 commercial vessels.
“Once again we’re seeing who’s really in charge in this government. NZ First has been staunchly against monitoring, and its fingerprints are all over this underwhelming announcement,” Ms Dowie said.
“In the Government’s year of delivery, this is another stark failure. The minister for fisheries said it was delaying the implementation so it could get it right, but it appears it was merely diminishing the original policy to a point where it will no longer be effective. This is a massive disappointment, and will do nothing to protect our vulnerable marine species.”
Professor Stephen Dawson, head of Otago University’s Marine Science Department, said mandating cameras on fishing boats in Ma¯ui dolphin habitat was “progress of a sort”, but was not what Ma¯ui dolphins needed, because it does not reduce the risk to their critically endangered population.
“The action that is needed is to get fishing methods that kill dolphins (ie. gillnetting and trawling) out of Ma¯ui dolphin habitat,” he said.
“We do not need to prove that gillnetting and trawling pose serious threats to dolphins. This is well established for this species, and for other dolphins and porpoises worldwide. And the Ma¯ui dolphin is now so rare that we are well beyond the point of trying to determine how often they get entangled. Put simply, Ma¯ui dolphins cannot afford any more entanglements.
“If we value these dolphins, the problem fishing methods must be removed from their habitat. There are around 60 of these dolphins left — this problem is too urgent to delay protection while doing more research.
“International wildlife management agencies, such as the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and the International Whaling Commission (IWC), have both made strong statements urging New Zealand to better protect these dolphins in all waters less than 100 metres deep (at least 20 nautical miles offshore). The idea of mandating cameras on trawlers and gillnetters is good, but it should be applied in waters more than 100m deep, while at the same time banning gillnets and trawling in all waters less than 100m deep.”