Maui's Dolphin Consultation

Public Consultation on Maui's Dolphin Protection

The New Zealand government has asked for public comments on its proposals by 10th October (http://www.doc.govt.nz/sanctuary-consultation) . New Zealand's Minister of Conservation Nick Smith released a new proposal to protect a further part of Maui's dolphin habitat against fisheries. This proposal is subject to public consultation, which ends on 10th October 2013. This is great news, but the plans once again, don't go far enough to prevent the dolphins' extinction. Participating in the consultation couldn't be easier. Simply click the image on the right and sign our petition. Every signature sends a submission letter to the New Zealand government. You can also make a personal submission directly through the government’s submission form and may want to use our submission letter as a guide.This process gives everyone the opportunity to have their say on how the last 50 Maui's dolphins should be protected. By signing this petition you can make a formal submission right now and let New Zealand know that the world cares and won’t accept their wilful extinction!While this may seem like an odd question to most people, the consultation process gave everyone the opportunity to have their say by making a formal submission. To make things simpler, we provided an automated process to allow everyone to make a submission easily and quickly via a petition before the 12th November dealine.

What we to asked for:

Last chance to save?

Maui's dolphin drowned in a gillnet.

Maui’s dolphins live only in New Zealand and are the smallest and rarest marine dolphin species on earth. Fishing with gill nets and trawling have driven them to the very edge of extinction. There are now just 55 adult Maui’s dolphins left, down from around 1,800 forty years ago. Because there are so few individuals left, the species can only cope with a single fatality as a result of human activities every 10-23 years. Yet gillnetting and trawling kill an estimated five Maui's dolphins each year. Maui’s dolphins need to be protected before it’s too late.

The world’s leading independent scientists, including those from the International Whaling Commission and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) agree that these harmful fishing methods must be banned across the dolphins’ range if the species is to have any chance of bouncing back. But the New Zealand government has ignored these urgent recommendations. Instead the government’s proposed plans focus unduly on monitoring the dolphins rather than protecting them. But Maui’s dolphins can’t hang on much longer. They need action now!

The New Zealand government has opened its public consultation on whether to offer improved protection to the last 55 adult Maui's dolphins by making recently introduced temporary protection measures more permanent. This process gives everyone the opportunity to have their say by making a formal submission. This is a unique chance to take part in the government's decision on how the last 55 Maui's dolphins should be protected! To make things simpler, we provided an automated process to allow everyone to make a submission easily and quickly via a petition.

What the Experts Think
Fortunately, the world's foremost experts on marine mammal conservation have already considered what is required to ensure Maui's and Hector's dolphins don't become extinct.

Here is what they had to say:

1. Government Appointed Panel of Experts
The government commissioned a panel of nine domestic and international experts to carry our a formal risk assessment for Maui's dolphins. The report clearly spells out the serious extinction risk to these Critically Endangered dolphins as a result of fisheries bycatch.

Download our leaflet

CLICK image to download

Consultation Documents

CLICK the image to download the Maui's Dolphin Risk Assessment

CLICK the image to download the Maui's Dolphin Threat Management Plan

CLICK the image to download the Question & Answer Sheet

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2. The IUCN World Conservation Union
Hector's and Maui's dolphin conservation was also discussed at the 2012 IUCN World Conservation Congress in September 2012. The IUCN's sought advice from its Cetacean Specialist Group - about one hundred of the world's leading whale and dolphin experts, and subsequently voted in favour of protecting Maui’s and Hector’s dolphins against gillnet and trawl nets in waters up to 100 m deep, throughout their range, including harbours. New Zealand was the only country vote against the motion. In a statement, the New Zealand government said that the IUCN's recommendation were “inconsistent” with its policy on managing fisheries mortality of marine mammals. New Zealand also stated that there is no scientific basis to accept the 100 m depth contour as an appropriate boundary for Maui’s dolphin habitat. This is a most unusual interpretation of the facts, as there are extensive data on the offshore distribution of both dolphin subspecies, which reflect this scenario.

The IUCN's demands perfectly match those of our turn the red sea green campaign (see map on left), confirming once again the legitimacy of what we have been asking the government to do for years. Find out more

Because only a fraction of their habitat (red) is protected against harmful fishing methods (green) Maui's and Hector's dolphin numbers continue to dwindle away. CLICK map to enlarge.

3. The International Whaling Commission
The Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) discussed the conservation status of Maui's & Hector's dolphins at its meeting in June 2012. The committee consists of 162 of the world’s leading experts on whales and dolphins. Together they concluded that “Weak protection on the west coast South Island, a lack of protection on the north coast South Island and ‘exemption’ areas in other regions are preventing species recovery” and “Expressed particular concern about the low abundance of Maui’s dolphin” given the latest population estimate of only 55 individuals over one year old and the rate of ongoing decline. The IWC Committee therefore recommended that Maui's dolphins should be fully protected against gillnet and trawl fisheries across their entire range up to a depth of 100 meters, including harbours. The latter has been particularly contentious because of the intensity of fishing there. The Committee further stressed the importance of avoiding further population fragmentation by ensuring a safe ‘conservation corridor’ between New Zealand's North and South Island across the Cook Strait. NABU International had published a report highlighting the urgent need to better protect Maui's and Hector's dolphins at the IWC Meeting. Find out more

In Conclusion ...

There are just 55 adult Maui's dolphins left on earth. They need and deserve our help!

In a strange twist, the fisheries management options suggested by NZ's Ministry for Primary Industries in its Maui's dolphin Threat Management Plan (TMP) discussion document largely ignore the conclusions of the government's expert panel, as well as those of the IWC and the IUCN. In doing so, the government's suggested actions fall significantly short of what is required to give Maui's dolphins a chance of avoiding extinction.

The government’s approach to protecting Maui’s and Hector’s dolphins is clearly based on politics rather than science. Unless we can persuade the Minister of Primary Industries, David Carter, to revise the management options suggested in the consultation paper, Maui’s dolphin will continue to dwindle away until they become extinct. MPI is already dangerously isolated with its distorted, industry obsessed view of the facts. That's why your submission is so important.

Consultation Papers
You can download the discussion documents by clicking the images on the right, but beware: together they are almost 300 pages long! Both documents were prepared by the ministries responsible for Maui's and Hector's dolphins, the Department of Conservation (DOC) and the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). These agencies also set up an Expert Panel, which provided advice on the risk assessment document. There is also a brief Question & Answer sheet, which explains the consultation process.

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