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Genevieve Robinson/Supplied
Hector’s dolphins are classified as nationally vulnerable. (File photo)
A Hector’s dolphin has died after getting caught in a commercial fishing set net off Otago Peninsula.
Fishing New Zealand said Sunday’s incident was the first fishing-related Hector’s dolphin death in the region since at least 2012, and the second time a dolphin had been caught by commercial fishers this fishing season (October 1 to September 30).
The death happened on Sunday, outside the Otago Peninsula’s Hector’s dolphin protection zone, where fishing methods such as net setting are prohibited.
Fisheries New Zealand management director Emma Taylor said the loss of any Hector’s dolphins was “extremely disappointing”.
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The South Island population has most recently been estimated to between 12,000 and 18,500. The east coast South Island population, where the reported capture occurred, is about 9000.
The vessel that caught the dolphin had been targeting school shark, a common species sold in many fish and chip stores, using set netting – a common fishing method off the New Zealand coast.
The skipper reported the capture to Fisheries New Zealand as required, and the dolphin’s body was handed over to the Department of Conservation to arrange an autopsy .
Braden Fastier/Stuff
Hector’s dolphins swim in the surf at Curio Bay in the Catlins.
“This incident triggers specific actions set out in the Government’s plan to reduce accidental captures of these precious taonga,” Taylor said.
The South Island Hector’s Dolphin Bycatch Reduction Plan was launched in November, outlining regulatory and voluntary measures to reduce dolphin bycatch to zero.
It was the first time a fishing-related mortality limit (FRML) had been applied to Hector’s dolphins.
DAVID WHITE/STUFF
Actor Robyn Malcolm lends her voice to the growing call for more to be done to save Māui and Hector’s dolphins. (Video first published in August 2019)
The Otago region’s limit was set at two Hector’s dolphins per year, and Sunday’s incident was the first for the year.
Taylor said Fisheries New Zealand would meet with industry representatives and local fishers before briefing ministers on any regulatory changes that should be considered to avoid any further deaths.
In November 2022, two Hector’s dolphins were killed in a trawl event off Pegasus Bay, Canterbury, and the last reported capture in a commercial set net happened off the Canterbury coast in March 2020.
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