FINZ welcomes National Plan of Action for Seabirds

Media release from Fisheries Inshore New Zealand

Fisheries Inshore New Zealand welcomes National Plan of Action for Seabirds

Fisheries Inshore New Zealand (FINZ) welcomes the launch of the latest National Plan of Action (NPOA-Seabirds) by the Minister for Primary Industry.

“FINZ welcomes this second plan of action to reduce the risks to seabirds from fishing activity. It demonstrates what can be achieved through a collaborative approach and constructive dialogue between government, industry and other stakeholders, said Carl Carrington, Chairman of FINZ.

“This collaboration and dialogue must continue as we implement the plan. Fisheries Inshore New Zealand will continue to participate in the Seabird Advisory Group.”

“We have shown that New Zealand can step forward on risks from fishing and good progress is being made in several sectors as recognised in the NPOA (e.g deepwater trawling and longlining).”

“A great deal of money has been spent on science in over the past 10 years. This has been helpful and some should continue but our focus now must be on the implementation.”

“The Level 2 Risk assessment in the NPOA is useful to guide where we should start but it needs caution in application,” said Mr Carrington. “It can identify ‘lack of risk’ better than it can predict ‘high risk’, and we need to look at these ‘high risk’ seabird species in light of other existing information, for example, population trends.”

“We need to recognise the large amount of information and expertise we have in the country. Support from NGOs such as Southern Seabird Solutions will be helpful in assisting us to demonstrate that we have and apply effective mitigation methods wherever there are high risk interactions”.

Mr Carrington noted “The inshore fishing industry has been active in mitigating methods to minimise fatalities with seabirds for some years now. There are already mandatory requirements, such as setting lines at night, using weighted lines and responsible waste and bait discard and these have been and are continuing to be deployed. The Leigh Commercial Fishermen’s Association developed and has been encouraging its members to use a mitigation guide for seabirds for more than 10 years. Collectively we worked with Southern Seabird Solutions and MPI to hold workshops throughout the country in 2012.

“We note that the Ministry intends to further test some mitigation options this year and we look forward to participating in this,” said Mr Carrington.

Mr Carrington noted: “Of course, for some species like black petrel, effective long-term action will require action across a broader community than just commercial fishers because these birds are also prone to risk from recreational fishing and land-based human and animal impacts”.

Back ground information

The NPOA is part of an internationally visible management framework, a requirement of the Agreement on the Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels (ACAP) members of which NZ is a party and linked to UN and FAO processes and guidelines.

A proper and operating NPOA will provide both community and markets comfort that there is a document regarding real processes, both underway and planned, as well as a framework for future planning and “issues arising” management in regard to seabird risk.

While the latest NPOA has been some time in its development, much has changed in the seabird risk and fisheries management arena since the implementation of the first NPOA in 2005. The collaborative process facilitated by MPI via the especially formed Seabird Advisory Group (SAG) and consisting MPI, DOC, eNGOs, industry bodies was a successful model to reach broad if not total agreement on the Plan. The NPOA specifically requires the SAG to convene both regularly and ad hoc to keep track of the NPOA and respond to arising issues of importance.

The NPOA Seabirds utilises a scientific risk assessment and the existing fisheries management framework (Fisheries Plans and Annual Operating Plans) to prioritise resources and implement any required work. Whilst caution needs to applied to some outputs of the risk assessment it is a useful guide to focus further consideration.

A key part of the NPOA is the objective to move seabird species to a lower risk category within the 5 year timeframe. Currently only about 10 species are assessed to be in a risk category that needs immediate attention. Some of this risk will be removed via further analysis of population data available or monitoring of impacts. Not all the at-risk birds species necessarily require mitigation per se.

There is an on-going requirement to reduce or eliminate seabird mortalities where effective, safe and affordable mitigation is known and can be practically applied (i.e. continued reduction beyond purely population risks where practicable).

Growing awareness and support from fishing sector bodies and individual fishers to apply common sense to tackling seabird issues makes the NPOA an achievable plan.

Collaborative support from MPI and DOC as well as NGOs such as Southern Seabird Solutions bode well for resolution of remaining issues.

For some species listed as high risk by the assessment, for example black petrels, it will take a broader community approach to ensure risk reduction as this species prone to interactions from recreational fishing and other land based impacts. This means that the NPOA will be well tested both in its ability to cope with a multifaceted risk problem and the ability of managers to determine what the science is really telling us and how to best apply resources to mitigate any true risks.

ENDS

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