Dolphin deaths highlight need for tougher stance on set nets

10 January 2007 - Christchurch

Contact: Forest & Bird South Island Field Coordinator Eugenie Sage, 03 366 6317, 021 418 502

The death of a Hector’s dolphin in a recreational set net off the West Coast just weeks after interim protection measures were introduced demonstrates that those measures don’t go far enough, Forest & Bird says.

A Hector’s dolphin was found washed up on a South Westland beach with visible set net markings last weekend. Another Hector’s dolphin was found washed up at Te Waewae Bay in Southland, but because it was in an advanced state of decay, the cause of death was not known. Both dolphins have been sent to Massey University for autopsy.

Last month Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton introduced interim measures intended to protect Hector’s dolphins. The measures only required recreational fishermen to stay with their nets in waters off the Kaikoura coast and Southland’s Te Waewae Bay. Nothing was done to protect Hector’s dolphins off the South Island’s West Coast.

Forest & Bird South Island Field Coordinator Eugenie Sage said the subsequent Hector’s dolphin deaths demonstrated that the interim protection measures did not go far enough to adequately protect the endangered dolphins.

“We hate to say ‘We told you so’ but Forest & Bird warned that more dolphins would die this summer because the Government would not ban or severely restrict set netting. Sadly, those predictions have been borne out.”

Forest & Bird is encouraged by the minister’s reported comments that if the interim measures did not work, a total set net ban could be imposed, Eugenie Sage says.

“Hector’s dolphins live close to the coast, making them highly vulnerable to being caught in set nets. Banning set netting in water less than 100 metres deep throughout the dolphins’ range would be a major step in preventing dolphin deaths in set nets,” she said.

“The set net ban off the north-west coast of the North Island clearly demonstrates that if this threat is removed, the number of dolphin deaths is considerably reduced.”

Forest & Bird is writing to the minister and Prime Minister Helen Clark asking for a set net ban to protect Hector’s dolphins.

Since September, 12 Hector’s dolphins have been found dead on beaches. These recorded deaths are just a fraction of actual deaths. The recorded deaths included three critically endangered Maui’s dolphins, the North Island sub-species of Hector’s dolphin, which numbers about 110.

Background Notes

Hector’s dolphin is in the same “Endangered” threat category as the Great Panda in China on the IUCN Red List of Species Threatened with Extinction, with about 7000 remaining (down from about 26,000 in the 1970s);
Set nets are a key threat to the threatened Hector’s dolphin and critically endangered Maui’s dolphin;
Compliance with set net regulations is poor and most captures of marine mammals and birds are not reported;
Set nets are banned or heavily restricted in many countries worldwide, including Australia, the UK and USA;
Between 1995 and 2005, 41 Hector’s dolphins were reported entangled and drowned in West Coast set nets. Dolphins have been killed every year, except 2003.
Set nets kill nearly everything that swims into them, including non-target marine life and seabirds, such as shearwaters, shags, penguins, seals and sea turtles as well as dolphins.

A photo of the Hector's dolphin found on the West Coast is available from Laura Mills, Chief Reporter, Greymouth Evening Star, tel 03 7681 012 or email lauram@greystar.co.nz. Also, a photograph of four Hector’s dolphins caught in a set net at Neils Beach near Haast in 2005 is available for publication by contacting Communications Officer Helen Bain at h.bain@forestandbird.org.nz.