Fight to protect Maui's dolphin

DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION

CAUGHT UP: There are only about 100 Maui's dolphins left and set-netting is posing a major threat to their survival.

Relevant offers

The Maui’s dolphin faces an extremely high risk of extinction but people are still ignoring set-netting bans put in place for their protection.

Fisheries officer Kathy Broadhead says officers are finding around 10 illegal set-nets a week and many found in the Manukau Harbour and at Port Waikato are owned by south Aucklanders.

"Lately it’s been really bad," Ms Broadhead says.

The Maui’s dolphin is the world’s smallest and is found only on the west coast of the North Island.

With about 100 left it is New Zealand’s rarest dolphin and is classified as critically endangered by both the Department of Conservation and the World Conservation Union.

Set-netting ban areas were extended to seven nautical miles offshore and further into river entrances last October in a bid to protect the species.

The set-net ban in the Manukau Harbour entrance extends west of a line from Lawry Pt to channel marker 4 and west of a line from the marker to 1km south of Grahams Beach.

The ban in the Waikato River mouth extends west of a line across from the jetty.

Ms Broadhead says the dolphins need to surface regularly to breathe but if they become tangled in set-nets they suffocate and die.

"They’re little tiny dolphins so it’s quite easy for them to get caught up in nets," she says.

A significant number have been caught and killed in nets since 1987 when the Department of Conservation began investigating dolphin deaths.

The department says the species could be threatened by even occasional set-net deaths because they breed very slowly.

Females start giving birth when they are about eight years old and only give birth every two to four years.

"It’s really important for us to protect them," Ms Broadhead says.

Beyond the banned areas set-netting is legal provided the nets are marked with the owner’s name and contact details, she says.

Before people go fishing, they need to check if they are allowed to set nets at their chosen location, she says.

"Make sure you know the rules before you go."

The rules are there for a reason, she says – to stop the extinction of a dolphin particular to New Zealand.

"We don’t want to fine people, prosecute them or take their property."

Guidelines:

• Set-netting guidelines are available at www.fish.govt.nz or contact the Auckland fisheries office on 820-1990

• To report illegal fishing phone 0800 4 POACHER

• Setting an unmarked net in a legal area will incur a fine of $250

• A marked or unmarked net in a banned area will be seized and offenders can be taken to court and fined up to $20,000, plus seizure of their fishing equipment

• Fines for commercial fishers are up to $100,000.

- © Fairfax NZ News