Animal adoptions, wildlife protection, wildlife conservation, stopping the illegal hunting trade: Care For The Wild International

Found only in New Zealand, Hector's dolphins are the world's smallest marine dolphins, and are also among the rarest. Entanglement in fishing nets around New Zealand's coastline has decimated their numbers, and continues to threaten their very future. Care for the Wild International has been campaigning hard for improved protection for these unique and gentle creatures.

Hector's dolphins are small, inshore dolphins that live exclusively around New Zealand's coasts, spending most of their time in small groups in shallow inshore waters. Most of them live around the South Island, where they are split into three main populations. A small isolated fourth population, known as Maui's dolphins, exists off the West coast of the North Island.

Being a coastal species, Hector's dolphins are very vulnerable to getting caught up in fishing gear, particularly gill and trawl nets. Gillnets are commonly used by both commercial and recreational fishers around New Zealand's coasts, usually in long, broad "sets" in order to catch inshore fish, a process known as "set netting". When dolphins become entangled in the nets, they can't get to the surface to breath, and suffocate.

Since the early 1970's, the use of gill nets has escalated around New Zealand's coasts. As a result, the populations of Hector's dolphins have plummited. The total population of Hector's dolphins is estimated at around 7,000, which is thought to be less than a third of 1970 levels. The situation for the North Island Maui's dolphin is even worse, with just over 100 (less than 10% of 1970 levels) clinging on. Between 110-150 Hector's dolphins are estimated to die each year in gill nets.

The life expectancy of Hector's dolphins is only around 20 years, and the females don't start reproducing until they are 7-9 years old, producing a single calf each 2-3 years thereafter. So they are not able to respond quickly to the kind of decimation in numbers that has taken place in recent years. Hector's dolphins are now classified as Endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and the Maui's population as Critically Endangered.

After years of campaigning and lobbying by Care for the Wild International, WWF New Zealand, and other groups and individuals, the New Zealand Government finally began drafting a Threat Management Plan for the dolphins in 2005. Before then, protection had been patchy at best, with some limits on fishing in isolated areas. The Threat Management Plan was the first concerted effort to establish a national policy in order to try and stop the dolphins' decline.

After much public consultation, new protection measures for Hector's dolphins were finally announced by the then Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton in July 2008, with inshore restrictions on gill netting coming into force in October of that year. The measures represented a start, but didn't go far enough to guarantee the recovery of the dolphins. Even so, the fisheries lobby immediately launched objections to the restrictions.

One fisheries trust managed get an exemption to allow gill netting around the famous Kaikoura Canyon, a favorite South Island hotspot for viewing dolphins. Sadly, a Hector's dolphin died in the exemption area in May 2009, and it has recently been confirmed that the dolphin died as a result of entanglement in fishing nets (read the report here), leading for renewed calls for the area to be completely closed to fishing.

Sightings of Maui's dolphins were also reported in late 2009 well South of the protected area on the North Island's West coast, highlighting the shortcomings of the new protection measures (see the news report here).

Even so, objections from the fisheries industry forced a judicial review of the new restrictions. The results of this review were announced on 23rd February 2010, with the judge rejecting four of the fishing industry's objections, and referring another two back to the Minister of Fisheries. The results represent a recognition by the judiciary that serious measures need to be taken to protect the dolphins.

Care for the Wild International, along with other conservation groups, cautiously welcomes the results of the judicial review. The matters referred back to the Fisheries Minister will be the subject of further public consultation, and we will take a full part in that process to lobby for the best possible protection for the dolphins. However, more still needs to be done if the dolphins are to be truly protected, including extending the fishing restrictions to the whole of the dolphins' known historic range. Only a complete ban on gill netting in inshore waters will be enough to guarantee the best chance of recovery, and Care for the Wild International will continue to lobby for this so that these unique marine mammals can survive and thrive into the future.

The continued threat to the dolphins was brought home by the news that two more Hector's dolphins died after becoming entangled in fishing nets in the Kaikoura Canyon area, where fishermen enjoy an exemption to the fishing restrictions in place round most of the South Island's coasts. Yet another died in January of this year a little further south near Timaru. Only a complete closure of the dolphins' range will ensure protection.

FIND OUT MORE
Download our Hector's dolphin factsheet to find out more about these amazing dolphins and the threats they face.

See CWI's Press Release in response to the judicial review results announced on 23rd February 2010.

See a news report detailing recent Maui's dolphin sightings.

Download Care for the Wild's most recent letter to New Zealand's Fisheries Minister demanding better protection for the dolphins and the Fisheries Minister's response.

See WWF New Zealand's website to read about the work they are doing on the ground in New Zealand to achieve better protection for the dolphins.

Read about Care for the Wild's work to help rescue, protect and defend wildlife around the world.

YOU CAN HELP

Find out how you can help support the work of Care for the Wild International.

Write a polite but firm letter to the New Zealand High Commission in London, asking for action from the New Zealand Government to ensure better protection for the dolphins to ensure their recovery.