Headline: Death of endangered sea lion shows need for Govt action
The Government doesn’t allow hunters to accidentally kill kakapo or great spotted kiwi, and it doesn’t have to allow the squid fishery to kill any of our critically endangered New Zealand sea lions either.
The Green Party is calling on the Government to re-evaluate its squid fishery management following news that a second endangered sea lion has died in a squid fishing net this year.
“Why is the Government still allowing endangered sea lions to legally be killed in fishing nets?” asked Green Party oceans spokesperson Gareth Hughes.
“The Government doesn’t allow hunters to accidentally kill kakapo or great spotted kiwi, and it doesn’t have to allow the squid fishery to kill any of our critically endangered New Zealand sea lions either.
“The Government has been sitting on its hands, allowing sea lions to die in squid fishing nets, while sea lion-friendly fishing options exit.”
Jigging − a squid fishing method that uses hooks, rather than nets − doesn’t pose much risk to sea lions.
“The Government has also been refusing to announce the sea lion pup count for the Auckland Islands, the New Zealand sea lions’ main breeding ground,” said Mr Hughes.
“I’m calling on the Government to release the pup count data.
“In 2012, the Government promised to review the squid management regime if the pup count around the Auckland Islands fell below 1501.
“The Government must be honest with the public about the number of sea lion pups born in the Auckland Islands, and then take responsibility for implementing policies that will protect them and turn around sea lion population decline.”
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The sea certainly seems to come in for different treatment than the land, if only marginally so in some cases. Most of us, (god I hope so, anyway) know that we can no longer hunt wild animals for food, but we seem to think it’s okay in the ocean – whaling, big game fishing and putting pressure on fish stocks in general.
I am going to suggest that it is the fact that we are competing and probably winning the race for the sea lions food, squid that is endangering them. We are probably just plain starving them or making it so much harder and take so much longer to catch the food they need that pups are being neglected. Possible? I think so.
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