New research shows Hector's dolphins under threat

"Our damaging fishing practices in New Zealand are threatening Hector's dolphins with extinction, and the world is beginning to find out," said Green Party Oceans Spokesperson Gareth Hughes.

UK paper the Guardian has published research which shows that each year 23 Hector's dolphins drown in gillnets on the east coast of the South Island while the sustainable limit for this area is about one dolphin a year. The research conducted by Dr Liz Slooten from Otago University and Dr Nick Davies from the Oceanic Fisheries Programme in New Caledonia will also be presented at the World Conference on Marine Biodiversity in Aberdeen this week.

"The international coverage of our damaging fishing practices is an embarrassment to New Zealand, and should be a wake-up call for the Government to immediately institute greater protection," said Mr Hughes.

"Not only is it the right thing to do, it is the right economic step to take as well. Causing the extinction of Hector's dolphins will undermine our clean, green image on which our economy depends.

"The Government can take steps to ensure that New Zealand waters are a safe haven for dolphins, not a place where they are killed.

"For example, Minister of Fisheries Phil Heatley could reverse a decision he made earlier this year to institute an exemption to the set net prohibition on the east coast of the South Island to allow commercial fishers of butterfish to use set nets in a defined area.

"Fishers of butterfish use gillnets which they set close to shore, the area where Hector's dolphins are most common. Dolphins could get caught in these nets.

"The population of Hector's dolphins is just over 8,000 and the Minister ought to be using the precautionary principle to give them the greatest chance of recovering to healthy population levels.

"The Government should take note of this new research and take immediate action to protect Hector's dolphins," said Mr Hughes.