2011-12-18 - ONE NEWS - JELLYFISH IN WELLINGTON

Commercial squid fishing is being blamed for a rapid decline in the number of sea lions around the South Island's coast. New research has just been released on the impact of squid fishing, and environmentalists say planned government policy will only make things worse. Currently there is a maximum number of sea lions that can be killed each season as by-catch, and when this limit is reached the fishing season is closed. The government is proposing to remove by-catch limits on squid fishing. The sea lion population is currently in decline and fishing plays a big role in this, said researcher Bruce Robertson at zoology department at Otago University. "It's where sea lions get caught in nets sufficiently long enough where they end up drowning." Green Party fisheries spokesman Gareth Hughes is opposed to the proposal. "This is unacceptable given the sea lion population is declining, they're naturally critically endangered, same level as the kakapo and Maui dolphin, yet the government has announced open season on sea lions from the squid fishing industry." The largest sea lion population can be found around the Auckland Islands, 460 kilometres south of Bluff. There has been a 40% drop in pups at their main breeding ground in the Islands, and around 400 sea lions die each year. But the fishing industry says its research shows only 20 of those deaths are because of trawling. George Clements of Deepwater Group told ONE News fishing is to blame for only a small fraction of the ...
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