The New Zealand Biodiversity Strategy
This is a plan adopted by the government to halt the decline of our native species and the ecosystems that support them. The strategy includes protection of marine and coastal species and ecosystems from adverse effects of human impacts. The Ministry of Fisheries and the Department of Conservation have legal tools, such as Management Plans and legislation with which to protect Maui's dolphins.

Marine Mammals Protection Act 1978
This law makes it illegal to take a marine mammal without a permit. This includes any action that harasses, harms, injures or attracts them. It does not prevent the accidental capture or deaths of mammals in fishing operations. This is called by-catch and is a serious threat to Maui's dolphins.

The Marine Mammals Protection Act also enables the Minister of Conservation to establish marine mammal sanctuaries to protect endangered marine mammals.

For example, to protect the Hector's dolphin in the South Island, in 1988 the Department of Conservation under the Marine Mammals Act created the Banks Peninsula Marine Mammal Sanctuary near Christchurch, South Island. Between 1984 and 1988 an average of 50 dolphins per year had been caught in nets in this area. In the sanctuary, commercial set netting is now prohibited at all times and recreational set netting is restricted from March to October.

Fisheries Act 1996
This allows the Minister of Conservation to develop population management plans and as part of this process to consult with the Minister of Fisheries to set 'maximum allowable levels of fishing related mortality' for threatened species. In absence of a population management plan, the Minister of Fisheries in the interim can set 'maximum allowable levels of fishing related mortality' for threatened species.

A Hector's dolphin population management plan, which also includes the Maui's dolphin, is currently in drafting with the Department of Conservation. In the interim, the maximum Maui's dolphin fishing-related mortality has been calculated at one death every seven years, but conservation groups believe that this is too high and that the limit should be zero.

Set net fisheries closures: West Coast of the North Island
The Minister of Fisheries has taken the following measures to reduce risks to Maui's dolphins from fishing:

© NZ Ministry of Fisheries

• banned all amateur and commercial set netting from Pariokariwa Point (north of New Plymouth) to Maunganui Bluff (north of Dargaville) within 4 nautical miles of the coast;
• banned all amateur and commercial set netting in the entrance to Manukau Harbour west of Puponga Point (Cornwallis) to 0.5 nautical miles north of Kauri Point (eastern end of Big Bay);
• planned a Maui's dolphin/trawl observer programme for the summers of 2003/04 and 2004/05 to assess the threat of trawl fishing to Maui's dolphins;
• Trawl operations are currently banned within 1nm of the west coast of the North Island.

For further information on Maui's fisheries closures see the Ministry of Fisheries and the Department of Conservation web sites.

Research
Research (partly funded by WWF and the Department of Conservation) is carried out by the Universities of Auckland and Otago to gather information about Maui's dolphins. This will help us understand how best to protect them.

Kirsty Russell surveying Maui's. © Kirsty Russell

Some of the methods available to researchers include:

• surveys from boats and aeroplanes obtain information of population abundance and distribution;
• biopsies from live dolphins provide further information on population abundance, sex ratios and inbreeding;
• data from public reported sightings are a very important aspect of this research as they help researchers understand the distribution of Maui's dolphin's particularly in harbours and at the extremes of their range. If you see a Maui's dolphin, please report it.

Findings are used by relevant government agencies to make decisions about protection of the species.

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