New Zealand debates access to dead sea life footage

New Zealand's fishing industry has found itself at odds with conservationists over whether or not the public should be allowed to see the realities of commercial fishing. In the waters around New Zealand - as many countries - animals including sea birds, dolphins, penguins and sea lions are routinely ending up in commercial fishing nets along with the intended catch.
In an attempt to better measure the impact of this "bycatch" on endangered wildlife, the government has started tighter monitoring, and as part of that, is proposing putting security cameras on boats. The fisheries do not deny there is bycatch and that endangered animals do fall victim. But what should happen to the footage from these cameras has generated a debate. The industry says it should be withheld from the public, fearing it might be misunderstood, or misused as propaganda. But this, say conservationists, is an attempt to hide the impact of commercial fishing on endangered species. They say the public should know if the likes of the small New Zealand native Hector's dolphin are falling victim to the fisheries. Dead penguinImage copyrightNEW ZEALAND MINISTRY OF FISHERIES
Image caption Forest & Bird obtained some pictures of bycatch from the ministry Under existing rules, fishing vessels only occasionally have observers onboard to log and report the cases. On all other vessels, the fishing company itself is responsible for logging the bycatch. While accidentally catching endangered species has no legal consequences, not reporting the bycatch incurs a fine, as authorities want to monitor the environmental impact of commercial fishing. They might also ban fishing for a while in areas where, for example, a sea lion has been killed. The whaling footage Australia wanted to hide What is the point of saving endangered species Kevin Hague, chief executive of conservationist group Forest & Bird, says that last year "there were 14 penguins that were reported as having been killed in the inshore set net industry". "Now, 13 of those birds were killed on boats that had observers from the Ministry of Primary Industries and only one occurred in the 97% of the fishing fleet that didn't have observers. "That really strongly suggests that the fishing industry is covering up literally hundreds of deaths of penguins," he alleges. 'A distorted and misleading picture' Under the government-planned Integrated Electronic Monitoring and Reporting System (IEMRS), every vessel will eventually be equipped with monitoring cameras to verify bycatch rates. The public could then request access to the footage gathered under the Official Information Act (OIA). But earlier this week, a letter written last year by fishing industry representatives to the government emerged.

While insisting the industry was supportive of stepping up recording and reporting systems, it raised concerns about privacy, and warned the material, if made public, "could be reduced down to a collection of stark instances to create a distorted and misleading picture of the seafood industry". "The risks to the seafood industry and to New Zealand's international reputation as a reputable source of quality, sustainably produced seafood could be significantly impaired," the letter says. It urged the government to change legislation to exempt the monitoring footage from the OIA

source: www.bbc.com