December 15, 2016
Fish companies combine to save dolphins
The chief executive of Maori-owned seafood company Moana says the government needs to step up and help with a new initiative to protect the world’s rarest and smallest marine dolphin.
Moana and Sanford Fisheries are working with the World Wildlife Fund on a new regime for the Maui dolphin’s habitat from Maunganui Bluff to the Whanganui River mouth.
They won’t lease catching rights to coastal set netters out to 100m depth north of New Plymouth from next October, and they will end conventional trawling in the Maui habitat after 2022.
Carl Carrington says as large companies they can afford to take unilateral action, but smaller companies will need government help to adopt to dolphin-safe fishing methods.
"It’s not just about changing the fishing technologies it's also issues around the catch allocation, the type of fish they are able to catch, and also levels of training and skill in different sorts of fishing methods. There's really a need for government on behalf of all New Zealanders to step up and help support the rest of the industry to make this transition," says Carl Carrington.
Copyright © 2016, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com