Latest panel post is up at
www.kiwimancomics.com
This week's image a terrible typo I managed to catch myself on, reads "Earthquake Dolphin managemant...", that's a pretty terrifying though a Dolphin that causes earthquakes.
Speaking of Dolphins....
Here's a Scoop news site article snippet about Maui's Dolphin set net restrictions finally instated after two years dicking about. The measures are not enough to ensure the species survival adn the government is not really interested in a sustainable approach. A lot of work needs to be done to help both the Maui's and the Hector's dolphins to survive, but no government so far has done much about it.
Scoop.co.nz
"The restrictions were part of a package of area closures and fishing method restrictions implemented as part of the Hector’s and Maui’s Dolphin Threat Management Plan developed by the Ministry of Fisheries and the Department of Conservation in 2008.
Mr Lockwood reported that, having reconsidered the restrictions, Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Phil Heatley has decided:
• To retain the prohibition on commercial fishing using set nets in the area between four and seven nautical miles from the shore on the WCNI
• To provide an exemption to the set net prohibition on the ECSI to allow commercial fishers targeting butterfish to use set nets in a defined area.
The key reasons for these decisions are:
• The Maui’s dolphin population is about 111. Given this population, very low levels of mortality caused by people can have a significant impact. The Minister considers that although the risk of mortality from fishing in the four to seven nautical mile area is low, it is not acceptable.
• The Minister considers that there is an acceptable level of risk in terms of mortality from butterfish fishing by commercial fishers on the ECSI given the type of fishing gear they use, the size of the area and the numbers of Hector’s dolphins.
Mr Heatley also directed the Ministry to advise him whether an exemption may be warranted for recreational set net fishers targeting butterfish in the same defined area of the ECSI where he granted the commercial exemption. The Ministry will release a consultation document shortly."
As I said, they just aren't interested in the survival or recovery of our endangered species. It's a shame this sort of pathetic gesture took two years of meaningless litigation with the monied bully giants of the fisheries industry to get put in place, especially since it does not reflect the habitat of the Maui's Dolphin.
I'll keep voting Green but it is very difficult to expect much from NZ in terms of preserving endangered species which is a sad thing.
:(
