Death limit for endangered New Zealand sea lions scrapped
An official limit on the acceptable number of sea lion deaths in commercial fishing nets is no longer necessary, Fisheries Minister Shane Jones says.
Despite the number of sea lion pups inexplicably plunging by almost a third last year, Jones has scrapped the Fishing Related Mortality Limit (FRML), which sets the maximum number of sea lion deaths each year before a squid trawl fishery in the Southern Ocean has to close.
The New Zealand sea lion, or rāpoka, is the world’s rarest and with a population of just 10,000 features on an international “red list” of endangered species.
Last year, an annual count was so low it triggered a government review of squid fishing in their foraging grounds, around the remote subantarctic Auckland Islands.
But ocean advocates are incredulous that has now seen protection for the marine mammal reduced.
Ministry of Primary Industries officials rejected two options to set the limit at either 33 or 69 deaths and advised Jones not to set a cap. That was against Department of Conservation advice, which supported the lower limit.
The decision, quietly released on MPI’s website on Monday, supports submissions from industry which recommended no FRML or the higher cap.
The fishing industry and MPI argue bycatch in the trawl fishery was by sea lion exclusion devices – which allow ensnared creatures to escape.
Marine conservationists are not convinced of the efficacy of sea lion exclusion devices and say data is limited.
University of Otago zoologist Bruce Robertson said sea lions may be sustaining injuries on their way out of trawl nets, including brain trauma. MPI was reliant on fishing industry data or from observers, who could see only what was hauled up, he said.
“All of this occurs in the dark at 180 to 200 metres,” he said. “There are so many facets of uncertainty. But it’s all been bundled up as certainty that SLEDs (sea lion exclusion devices) are working fine.”
Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, WWF-NZ’s chief executive, said FRMLs were not the best tool, but given the precarious state of the species there was no legitimate justification for removing it.
“At a high level, it is batshit crazy that you would have an operational plan for a fishery, triggered by a count that says a species is in decline at a level that is of great concern. And then the outcome of that review is to remove the backstop protections for the species.”
She also pointed to reports over the summer of baby fur seals dying from starvation as adverse indicators of wider problems in the Southern Ocean.
“Whether it’s climate related, or whether commercial fishers have been hammering stocks so heavily that there’s not enough biomass in the system to sustain our marine mammal populations is another question.
“[Officials] talk about taking an ecosystem-based management approach. We’re seeing indicators of an ecosystem in collapse and that rippling through the food web. If I was in the shoes of the Minister, I would be commissioning work to understand the drivers of that cryptic mortality.”
Jones, who has received financial backing from the industry and promised to “champion” its interests, said the number of sea lions captured in the fishery was very low – “an average of two a year over the last 20 years”.
“Overall, New Zealand’s fisheries are in good shape. There will always be challenges such as the impacts of climate change, and there will always be opportunities to improve,” he said.
“New Zealand fisheries are managed using the best available information and science. If the evidence suggests that measures are not working or no longer sufficient, we will take action.”
DOC’s marine bycatch and threats manager Kris Ramm pointed to a national zero bycatch target.
“DOC works closely with Fisheries New Zealand and acknowledges that the FRML is not the most effective tool for managing fisheries impacts. Instead, we recommended that a new, coordinated approach to managing risk should be developed,” Ramm said.
A five-year threat management plan for sea lions will be updated later this year.
“At a high level, it is batshit crazy that you would have an operational plan for a fishery, triggered by a count that says a species is in decline at a level that is of great concern. And then the outcome of that review is to remove the backstop protections for the species.” Kayla Kingdon-Bebb WWF-NZ’s chief executive