Update

Maui's dolphins are to be surveyed by the Department of Conservation, which plans to run a two year research project to gather data about the species.

DOC's last population survey in 2004 reported that there were between 48 and 252 Maui's dolphins with a 95% confidence interval at 111 Maui's.

The news comes one day after the Environment Court made positive recommendations to Conservation Minister Tim Groser on a proposal from Crest Energy to generate electricity from a tidal power station in Kaipara Harbour, Maui's dolphin habitat.

The Environment Court also said that the proposal needed further work to satisfy concerns about the turbines interfering with the critically endangered Maui's dolphin.



October 2009:
More dolphin deaths likely as High Court decision delayed

With the new fishing season starting on the 1st October 2009, commercial fishers will still be able to set their nets in places where Maui’s and Hector’s dolphins live.  This will be second season running with an 'interim injunction' on protection measures that would restrict setnet fishing. The measures, announced by the previous Government in May 2008, were designed to protect endangered Hector's and Maui's dolphins but the fishing industry took swift legal action, putting economics ahead of survival of the species.
 
The case was heard by the High Court in June this year and the Judge is expected to rule in the near future. However, WWF states that this decision to grant interim relief to fishers means that dolphins will continue to die in commercial set nets until the protection measures are fully implemented.

Campaign history
The New Zealand Government first formally recognised that Hector’s dolphins were under threat in 1999. When Maui’s dolphins were recognised as a distinct subspecies in 2002, and we realised just how few remained, WWF-New Zealand took note.
But the campaign is not over – the dolphins are not yet sufficiently protected. More work is needed.

Call to action
In 2004, WWF-New Zealand led a Conservation Challenge, asking the Government to ensure the dolphins get the protection they need to ensure they survive and recover back into areas where they once would have lived.
More than four years of sustained campaigning followed. In November 2007, we were on the steps of Parliament presenting a petition signed by more than 32,500 people, calling on the Government to stop the extinction of Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins.

New protection measures announced
After many years of sustained campaigning, a breakthrough finally came in May 2008, when the Government announced new protection for Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins. From 1 October 2008, the main human threats to Hector’s and Maui’s survival - set net and trawl fishing – would be restricted in more of the dolphins’ habitat.

As well, the Government announced four new marine mammal sancturies would be established.

The new protection means fewer dolphins will die in fishing nets, but it is not enough to allow the species to recover. Population modelling by Hector’s dolphin scientists found the new measures would at best stop the decline, and, at worst, allow the total Hector’s population to decline further.

This means the species, which is classified on the World Conservation Union’s (IUCN) Red List as ‘endangered’, would still remain vulnerable to extinction.

The situation is no better for Maui’s dolphins. With an estimated 111 individuals, holding their numbers static is not enough as it keeps them on the knife edge of extinction.  WWF-New Zealand is continuing to campaign for a total ban on all human threats throughout the dolphin’s range, including set net and trawl fishing, to allow the dolphins to begin their slow recovery.

Judicial review
Any celebrations were cut short when the fishing industry won a High Court interim injunction on the measures. The industry also sought a judicial review hearing, alleging the Minister did not base his decisions on the best available information, as required by the Fisheries Act 1996.

Given a 2008 report by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA), that the dolphin death rate due to fishing is 110-150 animals each year in set nets alone, many more dolphins are likely to die in commercial set nets until a complete set of protection measures are implemented.

Help the dolphins’ survival
You can help ensure the dolphins’ survival by visiting WWF-New Zealand’s Stop their Extinction campaign web site. Send an e-card to the Government, asking Ministers to give total protection to Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins.
Report any sightings of Maui’s dolphins. The more we learn about where these dolphins live, the better we will be able to protect them.

Adopt a dolphin and support our work to protect Hector’s and Maui’s dolphins.

Kiwis Against Seabeds Mining
Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM) is a community-based action group strongly opposed to any nonessential seabed mining.
Its objectives are to raise public awareness of current mining proposals which could affect the habitat of Maui’s dolphins. KASM wants to ensure current and future governments stop considering these and any future seabed mining operations.

KASM describe themselves as a non-political, non-profit organisation, funded by subscriptions and local donations whose opinions reflect wider public sentiment.