Fishing-Related Mortality, the Precautionary Principle and the Law in New Zealand

• Main Author: Wheen, Nicola
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law 2012
• Subjects: Environmental Law; Antarctic; New Zealand; Antarc*; Auckland Islands
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/gelc/2012/july2_2A/3; https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/context/gelc/article/1097/viewcontent/NicolaWheen_070212_856am.pdf; https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/context/gelc/article/1097/filename/0/type/additional/viewcontent/NicolaWheen_070212_856am.pdf

Measures to reduce fishing-related mortality of marine animals in New Zealand fisheries may be installed under legislation including the Fisheries Act 1996. Thus, a reserve has been made and a mortality limit has, until very recently, been set each year to protect New Zealand sea lions around their Auckland Islands breeding ground. These sea lions once bred all around the coastline of New Zealand but, decimated by hunting, the species’ range is now restricted to three breeding colonies in the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands. In recognition of this and an estimated population decline of 50 percent in the last ten years that is probably attributable to the impact of fishing-related mortality, New Zealand sea lion is now classified as a critically endangered species. Similarly, restrictions on inshore trawling and set netting have been introduced at many locations around New Zealand to protect Hector’s dolphin, a threatened endemic species, and its critically endangered sub-species Maui’s dolphin, from the effects of fishing-related mortality. Still, research shows that this species is unlikely to recover without further protection, and that fishing-related mortality is its main threat. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that overall, the measures that have been installed to protect these animals are too limited and too weak. The same can be said of existing rules that require larger off-shore vessels in some fisheries to fish at night and deploy bird-scaring devices in order to protect seabirds, including endemic species of albatross and petrel. More than 3,000 seabirds still die in New Zealand fisheries each year, even though it has been shown that some of the species inevitably involved are unable to sustain any fishing-related deaths. Though weak, many of the measures installed to protect marine animals from fishing activities have been challenged by the fishing industry in court. For measures under the Fisheries Act (the sea lion mortality limit and the Hector’s dolphin set net and trawling restrictions) ...