New measures have been announced that will further manage the impacts of fishing on South Island Hector’s dolphins.

A summary of the changes is included below:

• Extending the commercial and recreational set net fishing closure offshore around Banks Peninsula, which will prevent the transfer of set net fishing activity into this area from those areas that were closed in 2020.
• A Bycatch Reduction Plan that will be applied to all South Island Hector’s dolphin subpopulations. The Plan, while allowing fishing to continue, has a mix of regulatory and voluntary measures that will incentivise and support fishers to improve their fishing practices and avoid all Hector’s dolphin bycatch.

Public consultation on the measures took place late last year, and they are expected to be implemented by the end of 2022.

For further information, please see the Beehive website for the Minister's announcement.