'Unacceptable' 44 dolphin caught in fishing nets in last year

Figures obtained by a conservation group suggest more than 20 times the annual average were accidently caught last year in Bay of Plenty.

In the last year 44 dolphins were caught in fishing nets, a figure Forest and Bird is calling "unacceptable".

The Ministry for Primary Industries released the figures from the last seven years to the conservation organisation.

In total 53 dolphins were allegedly caught, 44 in the last year, in three separate events in the Bay of Plenty.

Dr Rebecca Stirnemann, Forest and Bird's Regional Manager for the Central North Island, says it's worrying despite the dolphin's population.

"For so many dolphins to be caught in one year, in one region, is very alarming," she said.

Stuart Anderson, MPI's Director of Fisheries Management, says the capture incidents are very rare and "extremely unfortunate".

"These incidents show that these fishers are serious about their responsibility to report incidents when they occur," he said.

The by-catch also includes endangered turtles, fur seals, protected corals, and hundreds of seabirds.

The industry says the dolphin numbers relate to three incidents, and it is concerning because the optimum is zero.

"This does appear to be an aberration. In the previous six years the average dolphin catch in the bay was about just over one a year. there's been a real spike this year," said Tim Pankhurst, chief executive of Seafood New Zealand.

"The good thing is that half of those dolphins that were caught were released live," he said.

Mr Pankhurst said a good example of the efforts the industry is going to is that early this year when a large school of some 30 tonnes of jack mackerel was caught, the skipper elected to release all the fish to allow dolphins that got into the net to escape unharmed.

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