New Zealand's endangered species still sold for profit

By Freshwater for Life

For immediate release

Today the team at Freshwater for Life submitted a petition to the House of Representatives asking for a ban on the commercial fishing and sale of whitebait. Over 3,000 people have signed the petition.

In case you haven’t heard, the New Zealand whitebait that many of you may enjoy and can purchase consists of endangered species.

Four of the five species of whitebait are classified as at risk and declining or threatened with extinction. Meanwhile they can still be sold for profit. New Zealand has the embarrassing statistics of 74% of freshwater fish listed as threatened to some degree. This is the highest proportion that has been found anywhere in the world.

“There is a real need to protect New Zealand’s unique freshwater fish from commercial exploitation” says Freshwater for Life spokesperson Kyleisha Foote. “They have unique life histories and are found nowhere else, having developed isolated in New Zealand. This need is sadly going unfulfilled by the current Government.”

“There are many things that need to happen to protect New Zealand’s freshwater fish but the first should be to give them legal protection from commercial fishing.”

Our most recent postage stamps feature a suite of native fish, most of which are at risk. If we want to show we are proud of our native biodiversity, we can start by not exploiting those that are on their way out.

Mojo Mathers from the Green Party will table the petition in Parliament on Thursday 23 March.

ENDS

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