KEY POINTS:
Forest & Bird is renewing its call for a nationwide ban on set nets after the body of another endangered hector's dolphin was found washed up with knife slash wounds.
The dolphin, found on Otago's Moeraki Beach, is the latest case of deliberate mutilation of the native dolphins.
Its death from such injuries was part of an increasing trend, said Forest & Bird marine conservation advocate Kirstie Knowles.
There were five cases in the 1980s, 14 cases in the 1990s and the toll now stands at 18 since 2000.
It was feared the mutilations were inflicted by unscrupulous fishers who accidentally caught hector's dolphins in their nets, Ms Knowles said.
The small dolphins got tangled in set nets and fishing trawl nets, and drowned. Fishers then cut them out of the nets and dumped them.
She said the Massey University pathologist who performed an autopsy on the latest dead dolphin found that its wound was inflicted after death.
Hector's dolphins are an endangered species. A sub-species, maui's dolphin, number just 111 individuals, and is critically endangered.
Last May, the Government announced measures to protect hector's and maui's dolphins, including marine mammal sanctuaries and bans on set netting in the coastal waters where the dolphins are most often found.
Five commercial fishing companies have legally challenged the fishing measures, and the High Court will hear the case in April.
In the meantime, an injunction is in place so commercial set net fishing can continue in some areas where hector's and maui's dolphins are found.
- NZPA
