Support is rapidly building for the critically endangered Maui’s dolphin. In the last month Manukau City Council and Auckland City Council have both joined the fight for action which means that seven of the eight regional councils are offering weighty support at a critical stage in the campaign to save the Maui’s dolphin.

The Maui’s dolphin is a native of the west coast of the North Island and is a close relative of the Hector’s dolphin. Just 30 years ago the combined population of Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins was 30,000. Now there are less than 7000 Hector’s dolphins and just over 100 Maui’s. The Ministry of Fisheries is also in preliminary consultation with all affected parties and only last week did ministry officials meet with commercial and recreational fishermen region-wide. Meanwhile the Department of Conservation officers also met stakeholders at its conservancy in Auckland.

Set nets are considered to be the main cause of the species’ decline as Maui’s become entangled and once trapped are unable to reach the surface to breathe – they drown in minutes. Despite this, these nets are regularly used recreationally and commercially in New Zealand. Local councils are calling for an extended set net ban as a partial set net ban already exists from New Plymouth to Northland including the Manukau Harbour mouth but this excludes critical parts of the Maui’s reported habitat. Non-target catch on these nets can be as high as 72% and if they break free and exist as ‘ghost nets’ they are a threat to marine life for years. Bans on set and gill net fishing already exist in the US, Canada, Australia and alternatives have been successfully adopted.

New Zealand’s very own Maui’s dolphin is the smallest of the world’s 32 dolphin species, they are related to the more common yet still endangered Hector’s dolphin found in small populations around the South Island. Non-target catch on these nets can be as high as 72% and if they break free and exist as ‘ghost nets’ they are a threat to marine life for years.

There are plans to establish a marine mammal sanctuary for the Maui’s as in 1988 the Department of Conservation (DOC) established a sanctuary off the Banks Peninsula to protect the Hector’s dolphin from gill net entanglement. However with recent research showing that the Maui’s dolphins range is far greater than the reserve area, a mammal sanctuary can only work in partnership with an extended set and gill net ban. With the world’s fisheries in rapid decline, forward thinking nations are clearly already alert to the need to change age-old damaging practices in order to ensure the future of marine life.