Hoiho (yellow-eyed penguins) at an Otago Peninsula beach. Photo / Craig Baxter
Hoiho (yellow-eyed penguins) at an Otago Peninsula beach. Photo / Craig Baxter
When it comes to catching fish off the coast of Otago, a major battle is being fought between fishermen and hoiho (yellow-eyed penguins).
And the penguins are losing.
University of Otago research using GPS tracking shows there is a high degree of overlap between hoiho penguins and gillnet and trawling fishing vessels.
Lead author and University of Otago zoology researcher Dr Rachel Hickcox said researchers found hoiho foraged mostly over the middle of the continental shelf where there was a high diversity of key prey species.
“However, less than 1 per cent of the adult foraging distribution overlaps with current marine protected areas, and the proposed South-East Marine Protected Areas [SEMPA] network would protect only 3.6 per cent of their range.”
Another study by Otago PhD candidate Mel Young also found a 26.4 per cent overlap between commercial gillnet fisheries from 2017-2019 and juvenile penguin foraging habitats.
The overlap meant there was a high threat of hoiho being caught as bycatch.
Dr Hickcox hoped the study on how hoiho foraging grounds overlap with commercial fisheries and marine protected areas would help better protect the unique penguin.
Understanding how penguins used their environment was “fundamental to determining how to protect them”, she said.
“We now have a better understanding of the spatiotemporal interactions between hoiho and their environment.
“This information could be used in marine spatial planning — an ecosystem-based management approach to conservation.
Study finds there is a 26.4 per cent overlap between commercial gillnet fisheries from 2017-2019 and juvenile penguin foraging habitats. Photo / Great South
“Moreover, it focuses on hoiho at sea, where they are currently facing a multitude of threats that past studies have indicated as primary reasons for their population decline.”
She said the goal of her research on hoiho was to provide better information to the people and organisations who were putting in considerable effort to protect this species from further population declines.
“However, this effort alone will not be enough without further conservation actions to protect them and their food resources at sea, especially because even the proposed SEMPA network will only protect a small area of their range.”
She hoped areas of high penguin-fisheries and/or penguin-prey overlap would be prioritised for future conservation efforts to mitigate the risks of bycatch, habitat destruction, and food scarcity.
She also believed alternative measures, aside from marine protected areas, should be considered. These could include voluntary or seasonal fishing restrictions, sustainable fisheries establishment, and compliance incentivising.
“With the considerable amount of research being done on New Zealand marine fauna, there is a great opportunity to integrate analyses such as this into ongoing and future marine spatial planning to improve the national approach.”
