KEY POINTS:
New measures to reduce the number of seabirds killed in New Zealand waters will bring controls for trawl and longline fisheries closer to best practice used in fisheries internationally, says Forest & Bird.
Kevin Hackwell, Forest & Bird advocacy manager, said he was delighted by the set of measures announced by Fisheries Minister Jim Anderton last week to reduce bycatch of vulnerable seabirds in New Zealand fisheries.
Inshore and offshore trawlers will be allowed to discharge offal and fish trimmings only at certain times when there is less chance of birds becoming distracted by feeding and being hit by the cables.
All longliners will be required to use streamer lines that scare birds away from the baited hooks.
They will also have either to weight their lines to sink quickly or set lines only at night so there is less chance of birds diving for the bait and becoming hooked.
As well, longliners that process their catch at sea will be allowed to discharge offal and trimmings only at certain times to avoid attracting birds to where baited hooks are being set.
Seabirds, such as albatrosses and petrels, are attracted to fishing vessels by the bait put on longlines and also by the offal and trimmings that are discharged from the vessels when they process their catch.
The birds can dive down under the water and take longline baits, become hooked and drown, or be distracted by feeding on offal discharge and get hit by the heavy steel cables that tow trawl nets.
Mr Hackwell said the measures would lead to significant reductions in fishing mortalities of vulnerable seabird species.
However, Forest & Bird still wanted to see the introduction of much higher levels of monitoring of bycatch and meaningful penalties for fishers who didn't comply with regulations.
Mr Hackwell said albatrosses were the key species caught as bycatch in deepwater trawl fisheries for squid and hoki, accounting for around half of the bycatch. More than half of the world's albatrosses were in New Zealand, and all of those breeding in our waters were listed as threatened, he said.
Mr Anderton said the measures would be put in place while longer- term solutions were developed.
"While some parts of the industry are working hard to develop solutions, other parts have done little or nothing and continue to kill large numbers of seabirds."
The Government was consulting on an updated National Plan of Action for Seabirds and a draft seabird standard to put in place a long-term framework for managing the problem of seabird bycatch, which could result in more mandatory mitigation measures being put in place.
