Extensive new protection measures have recently been anounced by Jim Anderton, the Minister of Fisheries, and are to be implemented on 1 October.

The protection measures include a ban on gillnets:

• out to 7 nautical miles (n mi) for part of the North Island west coast
• to 4 n mi for the east and south coast of the South Island
• to 2 n mi, for 3 months in summer, for the west coast South Island

In addition, trawling has been banned out to 2 n mi for the east and south coast of the South Island and part of North Island west coast. An extension to the Banks Peninsula Sanctuary plus 4 new Marine Mammal Sanctuaries aim to manage threats like pollution, marine mining, aquaculture and tidal energy generation. Sanctuary regulations are expected to be developed over the next year, after public consultation.

The Trust’s research has been central in these decisions. Data on dolphin distribution helped to define the boundaries of the proposed Marine Mammal Sanctuaries. Information on population size and breeding rate help determine the level of risk and showed that nationwide protection from fishing deaths was needed to allow the species to recover and to meet national and international guidelines for marine mammal protection.

For the last decade or so, the NZ Whale and Dolphin Trust and other conservation groups (including Forest and Bird, WWF, Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, Care for the Wild) have called for a nationwide ban on gillnets, observers to be carried on trawling vessels to determine how many dolphins are caught and careful management of other threats (including pollution, marine mining and aquaculture).

These new measures are much more extensive than previous protection and a major step forward. However, they are still not sufficient to reduce bycatch to sustainable levels. Populations in areas with a year-round gillnet ban to at least 4 nautical miles offshore are predicted to increase slowly. However, in unprotected areas (e.g. Taranaki, Cook Strait, Golden Bay, Tasman Bay) and areas with a relatively low level of protection (e.g. west coast South Island) populations are predicted to continue to decline (see map below). The total population is expected to decline by a further 600 individuals to just over 7000 individuals in 2050.

The proposed measures represent significant progress. However, they are not sufficient to allow population recovery and do not yet meet national or international guidelines for marine mammal protection. For example, NZ legislation requires population recovery to "non-threatened" as soon as practicable and in any case within 20 years. US legislation requires that population recovery, to at least half of the original population size, should not be delayed by more than 10% as a result of fisheries bycatch. Under the proposed protection measures, the total population would continue to slowly decline. In the absence of fisheries bycatch they could recover to at least half of their original population size within a few decades.

Specific ways in which protection could be improved include:

• Protection from gillnetting off Taranaki to allow Maui’s dolphin to recover
• Better protection of harbours. The proposed measures provide protection in North Island harbour entrances, but most of the harbour habitat is still open to gillnetting. Likewise, Hector’s dolphins in Banks Peninsula harbours are still exposed to gillnet fisheries
• Extending protection on the west coast South Island to to 6 nautical miles offshore, year-round
• Extending protection at Banks Peninsula area offshore to 15 nautical miles as Hector's dolphins are found well beyond the 4 nautical mile protection boundary in this relatively shallow area
• Increased protection from trawl fisheries
• Observers on all gillnet and trawl fisheries continuing in areas where Hector’s dolphins are found

The Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission expressed its appreciation for the large investment by government agencies in the development and implementation of the proposed protection measures, and for the analysis of their effectiveness. The Scientific Committee "noted however, that additional measures are likely to be required to ensure recovery of the species".

A more general move away from the use of gillnets, in favour of selective, sustainable fishing methods that don’t catch dolphins would benefit everyone. This would allow populations of dolphins and other bycatch species (including penguins, shags and other seabirds) to recover. In addition, target fish catches would likely increase as more selective fishing methods will benefit fish stocks as well.

For more information, please see:
Care for the Wild:  www.careforthewild.org
Department of Conservation: www.doc.govt.nz
Forest & Bird Protection Society:  www.forest-bird.org.nz
Ministry of Fisheries:  www.fish.govt.nz
Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society:  www.savemauisandhectors.co.nz
WWF:  www.wwf.org.nz

Recently published scientific articles:
Slooten, E. 2007. Effectiveness of four options for managing Hector’s dolphin bycatch. Endangered Species Research, Volume 3, pages 169-179.
www.int-res.com/journals/esr/esr-home/

Slooten E, Dawson S (2008) Effectiveness of new protection measures for Hector’s dolphin. Presented as paper SC/60/SM12 at the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission, Santiago, June 2008.