That's right, another species is dwindling because of man made impacts and this one is due to fishing practices. By catch is what it's called and the by catch in this case is the rare Maui's dolphins.
Fishers have been warned if they set nets in restricted areas off the west coast of the North Island they will go to court and could lose their boats, their gear and towing vehicles.
The warning has come from the Department of Conservation and the Ministry of Fisheries as part of their campaign to save the critically endangered Maui's dolphins.
It also followed the discovery of a 60-metre drag net earlier this week off Karioitahi on the west coast, south of the entrance to Manukau Harbour.
Source
Why is it so important though? Because the Maui's dolphin has only 100 individuals left in the wild and a net like this, left in their main habitat could put a big dent in that number.
According to the WWF...
Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins are New Zealand’s national treasures – these beautiful, tiny marine mammals only live in New Zealand’s coastal waters – nowhere else in the world.
The dolphins are among the world’s smallest cetaceans, easily recognised by their distinctive dorsal fin shaped like a Mickey Mouse ear.
Hector’s dolphins (Cephalorhynchus hectori hectori) are found only around New Zealand’s South Island. A subspecies, the Maui’s dolphin (Cephalorhynchus hectori maui), lives in shallow coastal waters along the North Island’s western shores.
The species name covering both Hector’s and Maui’s is Cephalorhynchus hectori.
They are so rare because they can only be found on the West Coast of New Zealand's North Island. Biodiversity is an important goal to maintaining a healthy environment we have to endeavor to protect as many species as possible. For New Zealand, this is an important species. For anyone concerned about the health of our oceans, saving one species at a time is imperative.
Maui's dolphin is a keystone species (A species that exerts a large, stabilizing influence throughout an ecological community, despite its relatively small numerical abundance) and an important part of their ecosystem. This is why we care about every part of a system, one part fails, the rest of the ecosystem can collapse. And we should care about every part of the ocean, not just those that touch our borders.
Here's a great video by WWF about Maui's dolphin, it's quite lovely, please watch it!
There is something you can do and it's easy. Let New Zealand know this is an issue for us all, send an email. That's it, that's all you have to do.
It's important to let New Zealand know how the world feels about these animals and won't stand by and watch them go extinct without a fight.
PLEASE E-MAIL this new letter to The Hon. John Key, Prime Minister of ...New Zealand: J.Key@ministers.govt.nz
Dear Prime Minister
Hector's and Maui’s dolphins are found only in New Zealand and are threatened with extinction as a result of fishing. Your Government, together with the scientific community, agree that gill nets and trawling are the main cause of death for this species. New protection measures implemented in 2008 provide improvements but don’t go far enough to allow the species to recover. Hector’s dolphins continue to die faster than they can breed as a result of fishing.
With the main threat of fishing unresolved, Hector’s dolphins are now in danger of further pressure through new manmade threats. These include two proposals for invasive research, one of which involves chasing and catching dolphins, removing them from their group and from the water, bringing and handling them onboard a boat to drill holes into their dorsal fins to bolt on a tag. These procedures have lead to the death of targeted individuals as a result of stress, injury and infection in other dolphin species. They are therefore unduly risky compared to non-invasive techniques, whilst promising minimal conservation benefits. I therefore urge you to consider the inevitable but significant weaknesses in the proposed studies and the concepts and assumptions that underlie it (e.g., Stone et al. 2005), which oversimplify the circumstances under which this work is to be carried out. They also ignore or deliberately underplay the very significant risks associated with these plans. As a result, this work will prove a great deal less robust and useful in guiding management decisions and advancing Hector’s dolphin conservation than the applicants suggest. The IUCN Species Survival Commission Cetacean Specialist Group has called for careful balancing of the "risks associated with invasive work (particular satellite tagging) ... with benefits to conservation from such data". In the case of Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins, such work is unwarranted. Instead, we urge you to introduce and implement, as a matter of urgency, measures resulting in the immediate mitigation of fisheries related mortality in this species.
There is also a proposal to place 200 tidal turbines in the entrance to a harbour, which is used by Maui’s dolphins. This subspecies will not survive if more than 1 individual dies from any causes every 5-7 years. Yet many multiples of this number have died over the past 5 years, pushing this species further down the path towards extinction and leaving no more margins for error.
New Zealand has been a well respected advocate for the world’s cetaceans at the International Whaling Commission. However, in this instance, where the survival of a species unique to New Zealand is concerned, I believe your strategy is misguided. Hector’s dolphins are precariously balanced at the brink of extinction and cannot sustain any additional pressures. Besides, these initiatives do nothing to address the primary threat of fishing. The implications of accelerating manmade extinction are momentous, for a country that values its environmental reputation such as New Zealand. Please ensure that these ill-conceived plans are not allowed to go ahead, so the survival on these unique animals under your care is not endangered further. A genuine precautionary approach, which offers Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins full protection against fisheries-related mortality, is the only viable solution.
Sincerely,
Letter from HECTOR'S AND MAUI'S DOLPHIN SOS
Please use your voice, take five minutes and help save an entire species.
More photos...