Maui embarrassment

Written By: - Date published: 2:37 pm, September 19th, 2016 - 15 comments
Categories: Conservation - Tags: , , ,

The government didn’t make much of a show of Conservation Week – which was probably for the best the Conservation stories coming out weren’t exactly positive for it.

The US potentially banning our fish from its market if we don’t improve our protection of Maui and Hector’s dolphins was a telling end to the week.  The potential ban would be a few years down the track from them listing Maui’s as endangered and Hector’s as threatened, but surely it must be a wake-up call to a prime minister with the world’s most endangered marine mammal in his electorate.  Coming in a week when 2 dolphins having a chat ‘like humans’ was reported, it’s clear it’s important that we take action to protect our own indigenous species.

The Kermadec Sanctuary row continued on, as even Bill English had to admit they’d got the process wrong (maybe actually consulting Maori might have been a good idea, Bill?).  National are now scrabbling to keep their support partner.

And MPI had to admit that our quota system is horribly compromised by fish dumping.  A systemic problem impacting on stocks, that could put half the inshore fleet out of business.

Not a great show for conservation on its week to be raised in public awareness.

Now, onto Suffragette Day today, surely National will be doing better there… oh… no…

15 comments on “Maui embarrassment ”

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  1. GregJ 1
    19 September 2016 at 5:48 pm

    He said 90 percent of fishers were conservationists and he did not believe last week’s scathing report was a bad look for the industry.

    Where have we heard that before?

  2. keepcalmcarryon 2
    19 September 2016 at 8:31 pm

    Yep, a couple of hectors caught on camera being hauled aboard some commercial boat or other, politicised MPI falling all over themselves to keep business happy and bury the tape rather than prosecute.
    Would labour take measures to de-politicise government departments when they are eventually in power? if so, what could/would they do?

    • Matthew Whitehead 2.1
      20 September 2016 at 10:58 am

      While Labour’s not terrible on most issues, I honestly wouldn’t trust them to de-politicise the public service on their own initiative. This is exactly why we need a strong Green Party in the next government.

  3. miravox 3
    19 September 2016 at 9:05 pm

    And then there is this one

    Global green economy Index – NZ down to 24th

    http://dualcitizeninc.com/GGEI-2016.pdf

    New Zealand self-perception:
    69.24 (14th) reality – 53.03 (24th)

    • weka 3.1
      20 September 2016 at 7:16 am

      And presumably we are still relatively high because there are places in the world who aren’t trying to protect a clean green image and where the damage is more wholesale. In other words we should be comparing ourselves to what is right not the relative goodness and badness of other places.

      • miravox 3.1.1
        20 September 2016 at 11:49 pm

        “In other words we should be comparing ourselves to what is right not the relative goodness and badness of other places.”

        Yes, especially when the perception of progress is so out of touch with the reality. An assessment of how well we’re doing in terms meeting recognised targets in progressing to a greener economy provides a better opportunity to set meaningful goals and communicate actions that are required to get there.

        Comparison of results other countries are useful though – in this case 80 countries – This one shows how poorly the industrialised English-speaking world (only Canada ranks in the top 20) is progressing toward a green economy.

        Also interesting for me was that this report has highlighted the progress being made in developing countries like Ethiopia, Zambia, Brazil, and Costa Rica, which all rank higher than NZ, UK, US and Australia.

        • Colonial Viper 3.1.1.1
          20 September 2016 at 11:59 pm

          Comparison of results other countries are useful though – in this case 80 countries – This one shows how poorly the industrialised English-speaking world (only Canada ranks in the top 20) is progressing toward a green economy.

          Hmmmm Canada has far higher per capita GHG emissions than most countries…right up there with the US and Saudi Arabia, and much worse than NZ and UK

          I’m guessing that’s due to their massive fracking and tar sands industries.

  4. Keith 4
    19 September 2016 at 9:19 pm

    Well thank God for TVNZ’s latest poll and the rockstar “growth” we are apparently in the grip of. It got that silly polluted drinking water, boring homelessness stuff and the housing crisis out of the headlines, just like it never mattered or even happened. It even had an Herald editorial dreaming of a 4th term for Key.

    Conservation week never happened, how could it? The show piece, the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary, ceased to exist in any practical sense from political infighting between the host and it’s parasite.

    But having said that there’s an awful lot of effort going on at the moment to gloss over things and to pretend the damage being done by this government is an acceptable everyday new normal.

  5. keepcalmcarryon 5
    19 September 2016 at 9:28 pm

    Its all going to be OK anyway when we achieve predator free status we will rocket up the rankings.
    Glad thats sorted, we can get back to draining and selling the aquifers and breeding algae in our rivers like any forward thinking nation does.

    • mauī 5.1
      19 September 2016 at 11:09 pm

      That’s part of the plan, native dolphins are predators at the top of food chain so must be eliminated under new legislation.

  6. mauī 6
    19 September 2016 at 11:13 pm

    We may as well steam into the southern ocean come whale hunting season time and harpoon our moby dick(s). That is our reputation now and it’s what we’re REALLY doing in the high seas when the spin is removed. So easily ruined after decades of environmental protection in the southern oceans.

  7. jcuknz 7
    20 September 2016 at 8:06 am

    Listening to the “two Guys” on National Radio this morning about fish dumping ….
    Who invented the quota system which leads to dumping … surely more sensible would be a ‘total catch’ system with no dumping permitted.
    of course us humans would need to widen our tastes from just ‘Blue Cod’?

    • Stuart Munro 7.1
      20 September 2016 at 11:12 am

      It’s not the human taste that is the problem – it’s the swingeing markups of large retailers. You can sell dogfish and jack mackeral and barracouta – but not at $38 a kilo.

      Supermarkets rarely or never sell the range that old style open markets did – typically they stock as few as four species – they don’t want cheap abundant species competing with high markup ones like Salmon, Snapper, & Cod. This time of year kiwis should’ve been eating the abundant but perishable Hoki – lovely stuff, but it deteriorates quickly if badly handled.

      Good discussion of artisanal fisheries here

      https://www.amazon.com/Four-Fish-Future-Last-Wild/dp/014311946X

      Community and environment sustaining and sustainable – this is what we’d be doing if we didn’t have a joke government.

  8. Sigh 8
    20 September 2016 at 10:37 am

    Conservation is racist colonialism…

    This is the biggest planned PR job in NZ history.

    We’re fucked.