Here is my recent media release and you can check out my submission to MAF regarding Maui’s Dolphins:
Global eyes on Government over dolphin response
Media Statement 10 April 2012
The Government’s response to the possible extinction of the Maui’s dolphin will be under worldwide scrutiny, Labour’s Conservation spokesperson Ruth Dyson has warned.
“With only 55 Maui dolphins in existence we cannot – as a developed country – allow inaction to be the cause of their extinction.
“There’s a huge win/win opportunity for ministers Kate Wilkinson and David Carter here. Not only should we be doing everything possible to save the species, but we should also be leading the world by moving our fishing industry to sustainable fishing methods,” Ruth Dyson said.
“We know that consumers are become more discerning – wanting to know how and where food is made. We could market sustainably caught fish internationally to huge benefit to our economy.
“And the by-catch of sustainable fishing practices would be saving the dolphin, unlike the current method, which is killing them.”
Ms Dyson, who, in a written submission to MAF has called for a comprehensive monitoring programme to help protect the Maui’s dolphin and an extension to a proposed set net ban, says the government can no longer close its eyes to the issue.
“The world is looking on. The Ministers have, to date, appeared cowed and compliant.
“They must strengthen their resolve to do the best for both the dolphins and the fishing industry, as well as New Zealand’s international reputation,” Ruth Dyson said.
Submissions on the MAF consultation close at 4pm Wednesday 11 April 2012 with parallel consultation on a DOC proposal closing the following week.
This is the email for Baroness Bryone Worthington. House of Lords UK – Labour peer and active conservationist. If you drop her a line she may send back some comment.
bryonyworthington@gmail.com
Bryony Katherine Worthington, Baroness Worthington, (born c. 1972),is a British environmental campaigner and Labour life peer in the House of Lords. She has promoted change in attitudes to the environment, and action to tackle climate change, and founded Sandbag, a non-profit campaign group designed to increase public awareness of emissions trading, in 2008
Yee haa!
! Go Ruth! 
! Save the Maui Dolphins! 
!!!!!!!
I’m saddened Whaleoil hasn’t got involved with a support group to save them.
But then I’m not educated enough to know if Dinky whales eat their endangered cousins.
Perhaps he will confirm for the record he doesn’t have a ‘Maui fridge’ in his garage and/or shares in drift net manufacturers and ACME – Uunscrupulous fisheries. New Plymouth L.T.D.
@al1ens – you can bet he owns half of ToonTown by now…
The dolphins do need better protection. But dont pretend fishing restrictions are good for the industry. They will catch less and thus lose money. This is not a win win situation and it is dishonest to pretend that it is.
They wouldn’t catch less if quotas weren’t hocked off to the highest foreign bidder.
@Al1ens!
!!!!!
Was laughing so much at jmk, I almost missed this
“But dont pretend fishing restrictions are good for the industry”
That’s right, mate. Overfishing without controls hasn’t hurt fish stocks and by default, the fishing industries as a whole, anywhere.
Besides lower catches, just think how much a packet of hoki fillets will cost.
Ipredict, if it wasn’t run by tory scum, should have a price on how much the last tiddler in the oceans will go for.
It’s true everyone has their price. Shame jmk’s is a species of soon to be extinct dolphin.
“This is not a win win situation and it is dishonest to pretend that it is.”
Saving hector and protecting our fisheries and environment is a win win situation, and it’s ignorant and offensive to pretend that it isn’t.
What about that dude telling people to boycott us tourismwise?
I wonder what the Minister of Tourism has to say about that!
Now who is that anyway?
Probably not who it will be after this government implodes in the coming months
KABOOM!
!
I don’t know what sound an ineffectual nothing makes when it disappears up it’s own arse… But I bet it won’t be as bold as your Kaboom.
Kia ora Ruth,
Good on you for making a submission. I did too. Am also submitting on the DOC Interim Extension of the Marine Mammal Sanctuary & Seismic Survey Regs to Manage the Risk of Maui’s Dolphin Mortality.
Hoping others will too – submissions close 12 noon 19th April 2012 and can be sent to Sean Cooper, Marine Conservation Team Mgr, DOC, PO Box 10420, Wgtn 6140 or email to marine@doc.govt.nz
It’s such a tragedy that the chance to properly protect the Maui and Hectors dolphins during the term of the Alliance-Labour coalition Govt was missed.
I’ve had the privilege of getting up close and personal with Hectors dolphins in Jackson Bay, South Westland, and have also seen them playing in the surf north and south of Greymouth on the West Coast.
I am confident that an overwhelming majority of NZer’s, both Maori and Pakeha, would endorse a total set-net ban around the coasts of both the North and South Islands to ensure the survival of these iconic wee Kiwi dolphins. Commercial fishers need to be roped into this too – whether quietly or kicking and screaming. Fishing practices that profit at the expense of the survival of the worlds smallest, smartest and cutest dolphins endemic to Aotearoa are unsustainable, unarguable, and unacceptable.
Thank you for your efforts on this crucial kaupapa – something that all NZers across party lines should rally behind and support.
Your work in this area is appreciated by this Maori Labour woman.
Kia ora Ruth.
PS all the best to you and your Labour colleagues in Otautahi fighting the bureaucracy and the threat of the loss of democracy in Chch in the wake of the quakes.
Iri Sinclair BA LL.B