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What's New?/NI Hector's Dolphin |
last updated 08 June 2005 |
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First, some good news...
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There is a protected
area for the North Island Hector's dolphin, also known as Maui's dolphin, that extends four nautical
miles off the coast, from Maunganui Bluff (north of Dargaville)
to Pariokariwa Point (north of New Plymouth). The protected area
encompasses some 400km of coastline. This is major progress. To
see how this decision was reached, read on...
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Hector's dolphin is an endangered species, only found in New Zealand.
The North Island population is very small (just over
100 individuals, Slooten et al., 2004, 2005) and has recently been listed as
critically endangered on the international Red List of threatened
species (IUCN, 2000). North Island and South Island Hector's dolphins
are genetically different (Pichler et al., 1998).
The North Island population (like several other Hector's dolphin populations) is declining (Martien et al.,
1999; Pichler and Baker, 2000), due to bycatch in gillnets (Martien
et al., 1999). A sustainable level of bycatch would be about
one dolphin every 5 years. A meeting of fishers, conservation groups,
scientists and government officials (in Wellington, May 2000) agreed
that bycatch should be reduced to zero, to allow the population
to recover. The only effective way to achieve this would be to avoid
overlap between dolphins and gillnets. In addition, it will be important to keep a close eye on other human activities in the area. For example, recent proposals to carry out sand mining throughout the range of North Island Hector's dolphins is not good news.
North Island Hector's dolphins are found between Maunganui Bluff
(north of Dargaville) and New Plymouth. To reduce bycatch of Hector's
dolphins to sustainable levels, it would be necessary to avoid gillnetting
and trawling for this whole area, out to at least four nautical
miles offshore.
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Will this be sufficient?
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There are still concerns about the following issues in
particular:
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- The current protected area does not include
the harbours on the North Island west coast
- It does not include restrictions on trawling
- There are no restrictions on other activities like sand mining
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Hector's dolphins have been sighted in the harbours on the North
Island west coast, and further research is planned to find out
how much time they spend in these harbours. While not as much
of a risk as gillnetting, Hector's dolphins are regularly caught
in trawl fisheries. Recent population modelling by a group of
scientists led by the Ministry of Fisheries suggests that current
protection may not be sufficient to prevent further population
decline.
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Why was the North Island Hector's dolphin sanctuary necessary? |
It seems that the majority of New Zealanders
are very concerned about Hector's dolphin conservation, but opinions
certainly range the whole spectrum from "let's do something right
now!" through to "why should I care?". So, why should
we care... |
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Hector's dolphins are only found in
New Zealand |
The species is listed as endangered, and
the North Island population as critically endangered, on the international
Red List of Endangered Species. This is an international recognition
that impacts on the species are not sustainable, and the species will
go extinct unless we act. Or, rather unless we stop acting... |
This is our fault |
We are the reason that Hector's dolphins
are threatened with extinction. New Zealanders are threatening the
existence of Hector's dolphins by catching them in fishing gear, polluting
their environment and killing dolphins by running over them in boats.
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The main threat is gillnet entanglement
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Hector's dolphins are caught in trawls
and gillnets. The risk of entanglement in gillnets, per day fishing,
is far greater for gillnetting. Gillnet fishing, on its own, is sufficient
to cause populations around NZ to decline and ultimately to go extinct.
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This threat is totally and easily avoidable
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Every single fish species that is caught
in commercial and recreational gillnetting can be caught using other
fishing methods. We could stop killing Hector's dolphins in gillnets
(and trawls if we wanted to) tomorrow. This is not like some pollution
event that has already occurred and we are powerless to prevent the
pollution getting to Hector's dolphins. Gillnetting is something we
do, voluntarily, and we could stop doing. |
The issue is not jobs or money |
Very few commercial fishers use gillnets. In terms of total profits
from fishing, gillnetting barely registers. None of the major income
earners (e.g. orange roughy, squid, hoki) are caught using gillnets.
Most of the fish caught in gillnets is of poor quality and low value,
and is used in the local fish and chip trade. The trade-off on the
North Island west coast is whether the extinction of the North Island
Hector's dolphin is justified to avoid a slight decrease in profitability
for about five commercial fishers.
Fishers currently using gillnets could easily switch to other fishing
gear. No jobs would need to be lost. The problem is that some in
the fishing industry see this issue as setting a dangerous precedent.
If they give in and change to more selective fishing gear, this
could set a precedent for having to make changes to other unsustainable
fishing practices. This could have serious implications for the
fishing industry. A sustainable fishing industry would certainly
be less profitable.
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So, what can I do to help save the North
Island Hector's dolphin? |
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Write to the Minister of Fisheries and the Minister of Conservation!
The marine mammal sanctuary goes some way to helping this species,
but not far enough. Several meetings of interested groups (Fishers,
Ministry of Fisheries, Department of Conservation, scientists, conservation
groups, etc.) have agreed that the management goal for North Island
Hector's dolphin should be to reduce human impacts to as close to
zero as possible. Extending the sanctuary to include harbours (Kaipara,
Manukau, Kawhia, Raglan, Aotea and Port Waikato) and having
restrictions on trawling will give the North Island Hector's dolphin
a much greater chance of survival.
Please write a letter or send an e-mail supporting these, or stronger
measures. Feel free to use any of the arguments above and the references
below to support your case.
You can send your letter to:
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- David Benson-Pope, Minister of Fisheries,
Parliament Buildings, Wellington
- Chris Carter, Minister of Conservation, Parliament
Buildings, Wellington
(no stamp required)
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Or by e-mail to: |
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References |
- Dawson, S., Pichler, F., Slooten, E., Russell,
K. and Baker, C.S. 2001. North Island Hector's dolphin is vulnerable
to extinction. Marine Mammal Science 17 (2): 366-371.
- Dawson, S.M., Read, A. and Slooten, E. 1998.
Pingers, porpoises and power: Uncertainties with using pingers
to reduce bycatch of small cetaceans. Biological Conservation
84(2): 141-146.
- IUCN Red Data List 2000. IUCN, World Conservation
Union, Gland, Switzerland, www.redlist.org.
- Martien, K.K., Taylor, B.L., Slooten, E.
Dawson, S.M. 1999. A sensitivity analysis to guide research and
management for Hector's dolphin. Biological Conservation 90: 183-191.
- Pichler, F. and Baker, CS 2000. Loss of genetic
diversity in the endemic Hector's dolphin due to fisheries-related
mortality. Proc R. Soc. Lond. B. 267:97-102.
- Pichler, F., Baker, CS, Dawson, S.M. &
Slooten, E. 1998. Mitochondrial differences between east and west
coast populations of Hector's dolphin. Conservation Biology. 12(3):
1-8.
- Russell, K. 1999. The North Island Hector's
dolphin: a species in need of conservation. Unpub. MSc thesis,
- Slooten, E., Dawson, S., Rayment, W.J. and Childerhouse, S.J. 2004. Aerial survey of North Island Hector's dolphin. Final report to Department of Conservation and World Wide Fund for Nature, Wellington.
- Slooten, E., Dawson, S., Rayment, W.J. and Childerhouse, S.J. 2005. Distribution of Maui's dolphin, Cephalorhynchus hectori maui. New Zealand Fisheries Assessment Report, Published by Ministry of Fisheries, Wellington.
University of Auckland.
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