Hector's & Maui's dolphins - marine mammal sanctuaries

Consultation closed: 23 July 2008

Background information

The Acting Minister of Conservation Mahara Okeroa has announced the intention to establish four new marine mammal sanctuaries and to redefine the existing Banks Peninsula Marine Mammal Sanctuary. Mining and acoustic seismic surveying will be restricted or managed within the sanctuaries.

These Notices of Intention were published in the New Zealand Gazette on 26 June 2008.

The current restrictions in the sanctuaries will seek to manage non-fishing threats to the dolphins. All methods of fishing will be allowed within the sanctuaries, other than those prohibited under fisheries legislation.

The sanctuary proposals were first announced during the draft Hector’s and Maui’s Dolphin Threat Management Plan consultation in August 2007 and follows measures recently announced by the Minister of Fisheries to manage fisihing threats.

The marine mammal sanctuaries are part of the new Hector’s and Maui’s Dolphin Threat Management Plan which has been carefully designed by the Department of Conservation and the Ministry of Fisheries to achieve the best possible outcome for the dolphins.

View information about the marine mammal sanctuaries