A Dunedin environmental advocate is calling for better protection for seabirds after 18 albatrosses were caught by surface longline fishers off the southeast coast of the South Island in the first three months of this year.
Fisheries New Zealand said it was considering extending mandatory measures for surface longline fishing to new areas.
But Forest & Bird seabird advocate Sue Maturin said fishers targeting species such as tuna and swordfish ought to be required to use all three best practice methods “everywhere, all the time”.
Longline fishing has had a devastating effect on albatross numbers, with earlier estimates of 300,000 deaths annually. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey
Commercial fishers using surface longlines were required by law to use various mitigations, but present protection was “woefully inadequate”.
The number of birds being caught off the Otago coast, where no mandatory mitigations were in place, was unacceptable, Maturin said.
A fat albatross chick at the St Clair cliffs colony inside a predator-proof fence. Photo / Sue Maturin
Forest & Bird was calling for the use of hook-shielding devices on all hooks, or mandating “three out of three” mitigation methods across New Zealand. Deploying seabird-scaring streamers on lines, setting lines at night, or using line weights was best practice expected to be used voluntarily, “but because it’s voluntary, they don’t bother”.
Some good fishers who wanted to do it right, Maturin said.
However, the 18 albatrosses reported as by-catch off the Otago coast were unreliable as an indicator of the number caught as not all by-catch was reported, Maturin said.
The caught albatrosses likely include severely threatened species such as antipodean, Gibson’s, Salvin’s or royal albatrosses.
Other seabird species would have been caught as well, she said.
More than 1000 seabirds were caught by surface longlines around the country every year.
Fisheries New Zealand fisheries management director Emma Taylor said a decision on rule changes would be made by the chief executive of the Ministry for Primary Industries.
Consultation on changes to seabird mitigation measures for surface longline fishing closed in May and the ministry received 3180 submissions, including 3103 form letters, representing a wide range of views, she said.
As a result of the feedback, Fisheries New Zealand was considering extending the proposed measures to include additional fisheries areas.
The ministry would be engaging further with key stakeholders on the issue in the coming weeks.
Advice would be drafted after this additional targeted engagement “and a decision will follow in due course”.
