New Zealand’s implementation of its NPOA Seabirds

This paper summarises New Zealand’s implementation of its National Plan of Action to reduce the incidental catch of seabirds in New Zealand fisheries.
Along with the development of targets and actions across the three major fisheries groupings, species specific action plans for the most at-risk seabird species are being developed.
Regions and fisheries have been identified that pose considerable risk to the most at-risk seabirds (as estimated by a quantitative seabird risk assessment). In these areas several management actions have been progressed. The first is undertaking Seabird Smart Training of skippers and crew; attendance at these workshops have been supported by fishing companies. Secondly, in these areas/fisheries, vessel specific seabird management plans are being developed by skippers in conjunction with liaison offices that have been employed for this purpose. Outreach to the recreational fishing sector is also being undertaken in northern New Zealand, where the highest recreational fishing effort occurs.
Research activities are also continuing into: the demographics of at-risk seabirds, mitigation trials and refinements, extrapolations of bycatch levels, refinement of extrapolation and risk assessment methods and further iterations of the quantitative seabird risk assessment.