New data showing albatross are accidentally caught and killed by New Zealand fishing vessels at a rate 350 percent higher than previously reported has landed just as regulators are due to make a crucial decision on protections for the species.
Newsroom reported in February that Fisheries New Zealand (FNZ) was on the verge of a final decision on new mitigation measures that fishers must undertake to prevent accidental by-catch of seabirds by surface longline vessels. Officials had suggested their preferred option was a marginal improvement in protections, rather than the international “best practice” rules recommended by the Department of Conservation and environmental groups.
Now, new data on the true scale of seabird by-catch, informed by the first batch of cameras to be rolled out to the fishing fleet, will be factored into that decision. A final call was due “soon” in February and is now four to six weeks away.
“Fisheries management decisions are required to be based on the best available information, and new information has come in through early insights from onboard camera data,” Emma Taylor, the director of fisheries management at FNZ, told Newsroom. “This adds to the evidence we are gathering and assessing to support this decision including observer data, feedback through consultation processes, and scientific modelling.”
The industry has also signed up to a voluntary code for vessels in the South Island, which are operating by that “best practice” measure, she said.
Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, the chief executive of World Wildlife Fund NZ, said the new data provided all the evidence officials need to require the most stringent protections for longline vessels.
“The question I put to you in February was, if we knew that our commercial fleet was hammering our albatross and petrel species to extinction, would that change the Government’s view on the interventions that are required to address the risk to those species. Now, surely, a 3.5 times increase in reported interactions changes the picture that was painted in that advice on the surface longline regulations.”
The final decision is up to the director-general of the Ministry for Primary Industries rather than the Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones. Jones said in February that he had no position on the subject and wouldn’t interfere with Fisheries NZ’s call.
Reconsideration of seabird protections was triggered by a review of regulations put in place in 2019. These rules required longline surface vessels, which target pelagic species such as tuna and swordfish, to either fit hook-shielding devices to their lines to prevent seabirds from being accidentally hooked or to adopt two out of three alternate measures: weighted branch lines, setting lines at night or using tori (or bird-scaring) lines.
There was also the option to adopt voluntary measures, which required using the hook-shielding devices or all three of the alternate measures, as well as other practices like minimising the number of birds that land on boat decks. The voluntary option was aligned with the best practice recommended by the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels and was pushed for by New Zealand in international negotiations.
However, the review of the 2019 rules found the voluntary best practice measures were not widely used. This triggered another look at how protections could be strengthened. After consulting on new options, Fisheries NZ told the then-minister in July 2023 that they wanted to require the best practice measures in the highest risk locations at the highest risk times of year. The Department of Conservation recommended mandating the best practice measures for the entire fleet, year-round.
Kingdon-Bebb, who was the director of the conservation department’s policy unit until February 2023, said the July briefing failed to describe the threat to albatross from the fishing industry.
“The paper didn’t go into much detail about what the conservation status of the affected protected species actually was,” she said.
“Antipodean albatross in particular is of quite grave concern given that we’ve lost two thirds of the population in just over a decade, and there’s estimated to only be about 5100 breeding pairs left. And of course the estimates that MPI, Fisheries New Zealand and DoC proffer around the impact of commercial by-catch is really significant for this species. We know that deaths through accidental capture and drowning is probably the most significant driver of mortality and population decline for the Antipodean albatross, which is nationally critical.”
Then there’s the new data obtained since the rollout of cameras on fishing vessels began. This data wasn’t obtained from the cameras themselves, but from fishers reporting much higher levels of by-catch once cameras were installed on their boats.
Compared with the period from 2018 to the installation of the cameras, there was a 3.5 times increase in the number of albatross interactions reported as of April 1 and a 6.8 times increase in dolphin captures.
The entire fleet of 22 surface longline vessels has had cameras installed since January 16, but the data above also includes reports from 107 trawl and set net vessels.
In a briefing to Jones in February, officials said they hoped to use the more accurate reporting data to issue a daily notice to the longline fleet about where seabirds have been caught, to hopefully direct them away from high-risk areas.
Though this was a positive development, Kingdon-Bebb said, it didn’t go far enough. She urged Fisheries NZ to reconsider its preferred option and back the international best practice rules for the longline fleet when the final decision is made in the coming weeks.
Dr Jeremy Helson, the CEO of Seafood New Zealand, said the new data didn’t change the industry’s opposition to the universal mandate of the voluntary measures.
“Fishers are always thinking about the marine life around them when out on the water. They don’t want to be catching seabirds or any other protected species,” he said.
“We don’t believe there is a ‘one-size fits all approach’ when it comes to keeping seabirds safe. The surface longline sector is continually working toward better practice mitigation and adapting to the changing dynamics of their environment. They are constantly watching, assessing, adapting and innovating to keep seabirds safe. They are very proactive in this space.”
Well, if they’re so effective, why have they been under-reporting seabird deaths? It’s only after the installation of cameras that we know the real costs of the fisheries on endangered species and why we’re seen two-thirds loss of our albatross populations in the last decade. It’s outrageous and can we believe anything Seafood NZ says? Voluntary measures seldom work well because companies take the most experdient measures and bycatch is “unfortunate”. Pike River was a classic case of where trusting a company under financial pressure to undertake proper heath & safety cost 29 men their lives. Don’t expect any better consideration for endangered species in the way of making a buck for the fishing companies.
The most important thing to recognize in this situation is that if we don’t protect ecosystems and species facing extinction, then it is unlikely we will make decisions which prepare us for a viable future as humans. The exploitation mentality is basic to both problems.