In the past 20 years, yellow-eyed penguins have declined 76 per cent at previous population strongholds. Photo / File
In the past 20 years, yellow-eyed penguins have declined 76 per cent at previous population strongholds. Photo / File
Forest and Bird has called for a closure of some set net fisheries in response to new research linking activity to deaths of endangered yellow-eyed penguins.
But the industry has rejected the group's claims over the impact of fishing as "simplistic" and ignored other threats to the iconic species.
The fresh call comes after the first global review of penguin bycatch, published today in the journal Endangered Species Research, identified the yellow-eyed penguin, or hoiho, as one of three penguin species of significant concern.
It identified set nets — walls of fine nylon mesh used to catch fish by the gills and used by around 330 commercial boats in New Zealand waters - as the fishing gear causing most penguin deaths.
Yellow-eyed penguins face a number of threats, including fishing nets, climate change, disease and habitat degradation.
"The deaths of penguins in set nets is one threat that could be easily avoided," said Forest and Bird seabird advocate Karen Baird, who contributed to the review.
Yellow-eyed penguin numbers have dramatically declined in recent years, with only 246 breeding pairs left on the South Island.
In the past 20 years, yellow-eyed penguins have declined 76 per cent at previous population strongholds.
The latest survey showed an annual decline of 10 per cent on the Catlins and a 6 per cent decline for the total southern east coast.
Most concerning were that only 14 nests were found on Whenua Hou (Codfish Island) compared with 24 last year.
"We have reached the point where every bird counts," said Dr Ursula Ellenberg, the New Zealand penguin scientist who initiated the global review.
"Penguins are seabirds, conservation measures on land alone will not save them from extinction. It's the threats at sea we are most concerned about."
Researchers linked the low numbers of reported yellow-eyed penguin deaths to what they considered low observer coverage.
A yellow-eyed penguin. Photo / File
Based on the limited observer data, one recent study estimated that set nets kill an average of 35 yellow-eyed penguins per year.
"Given the yellow-eyed penguin's precarious situation, this level of bycatch warrants urgent attention," Baird said.
"Preventing their deaths in set net fisheries is a major priority in saving this species from extinction."
Baird said the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) had previously assessed the risk from fisheries bycatch to mainland yellow-eyed penguin as high, yet had "failed to act" to protect penguins from commercial fishing.
But MPI fisheries management director Stuart Anderson said MPI was "absolutely committed" to managing the impact.
"We have already increased observation of set net fishing in the range of the Whenua Hou [Codfish Island] population, and most of the mainland yellow-eyed penguins."
Over the past 12 months, MPI had observed 25 per cent of all commercial set net activity off Southland, and the southern part of the East Coast, with no observed captures of yellow-eyed penguins.
Set netting within four nautical miles of land was already prohibited in much of the Southland Fisheries Management Area.
Approximately 75 per cent of the yellow-eyed penguin population live in areas like the Auckland Islands, where there was no set net fishing at all.
"We are working with the Department of Conservation, fishers, and NGOs to understand the impact of fishing and other risks for this iconic species," Anderson said.
That included setting up a comprehensive research programme focused on fishing risks.
"That will help us understand what impact fishing might be having, and identify ways to reduce it."
Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust manager Sue Murray said hoiho lived more than half their lives in the marine environment, and the set net fishing industry was one of the impacts.
"Terrestrial impacts are managed through a variety of conservation measures and we must now urgently turn our attention to the marine environment," Murray said.
Fisheries Inshore New Zealand chief executive Dr Jeremy Helson said while fishing did pose some risk to yellow-eyed penguins, the industry took a range of precautions to limit captures.
It was well-documented that yellow-eyed penguins faced other threats such as predation by sea lions, great white sharks and leopard seals, avian diptheria, heat stress and dog attacks, he said.
"The industry is concerned that Forest and Bird's claims are simplistic and based on very selective use of information; this is counter-productive."
