Set nets still being deployed as breeding season starts

Set nets still being deployed as vulnerable breeding season starts for hoiho

The crucial 28-week breeding season has begun for hoiho, yellow-eyed penguins. Meanwhile, advocates for the species are still awaiting a response from the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries on whether he will use his emergency powers to close the set net fleet in hoiho habitat for the breeding season.

A huge coordinated effort goes into mitigating threats on land and rescuing and rehabilitating hoiho. Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust is calling on the Ministers to match those efforts in the marine environment by putting adequate protections in place, and urgently closing the set net fishery in hoiho habitat.

With the breeding season now underway, we are stressing the urgency for protection at sea if we are to see this population recover.

"There's a huge amount of penguins that aren't coming back home, and we don't know why - there's a huge gap in knowledge. It's something we're determined to focus on this season - an emergency closure of the fishery enables us to find out what is going on so we can do something about it." says Anna Campbell of Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust.

"The ministers have special powers. We've seen them use those special powers to fast-track legislation recently, to do a number of different things very quickly - but they can also use those powers for good."

"We're calling for them to use those powers to have an emergency closure of the fishery in time for the beginning of the breeding season where the hoiho are returning to nest, ensuring safe passage from sea to coast where they can mate and have two eggs to give us the best shot at increasing the number of chicks.

"If we wait for the other regulatory measures, it might be too late because this season is so critical for hoiho," Campbell said.

"The hoiho, yellow-eyed penguin, captured the hearts of New Zealanders when it was named Bird of the Year in both 2019 and 2024. By protecting the hoiho, we’re not just saving one of the world’s rarest penguins, we’re also safeguarding the ecosystems it calls home, and ensuring a future for many other native species that share its coastal habitat," says Chelsea McGaw, Forest & Bird's Regional Conservation Manager - Otago & Southland.

"This is the type of situation that the emergency powers in the Fisheries Act are designed for. There has been a serious decline in hoiho numbers. There has been an outbreak of disease amongst the northern population of hoiho, as well as adverse changes in the aquatic environment. We're seeking an emergency closure in the immediate term, while hoiho are nesting and in the longer term, a mortality limit of zero as part of a comprehensive population management plan," says Dr Matt Hall, ELI Director, Research and Legal

“We are in real danger of losing this iconic taonga species. WWF-New Zealand is urging the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries to act with urgency and before it’s too late. Otherwise, we will fail future generations who will only know the hoiho from its image on the five-dollar note,” says Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb, WWF-New Zealand’s CEO

Breeding success crucial for Northern population:

• There were only 143 nests on the mainland and Rakiura Stewart Island last season, marking an 80% decline in the northern population in sixteen years.
• The 28 week breeding season begins in mid-August, and chicks fledge (go to sea for the first time) in February.
• In September and October, one or two greenish-white eggs about 75×55 mm in size will be laid at each nest. Both parents take turns to incubate, which takes about 43 days. From November to December, for 40-50 days, parents will take turns guarding the nest as the other goes to fish.
• On land, a network of organisations (including Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust) work to mitigate threats on land by protecting habitat and monitoring hoiho over the breeding season – intervening on disease, starvation and injury and rehabilitating hoiho back to health.

Impact of set nets:

• Between October 2019 and March 2025, according to MPI, fourteen hoiho were killed in fisheries incidents: twelve caught in set nets and two from deck strike.
• According to Seafood NZ, a further three hoiho were killed from April to June 2025.
• There is currently a four nautical mile set net ban along the Otago Coast. However, hoiho forage up to 20 nautical miles off the coast.

Environmental Law Initiative Letters:

• ELI wrote to the Minister for Conservation Tama Potaka — requesting a Population Management Plan for hoiho under the Wildlife Act, with a zero bycatch limit to protect the northern population. ELI also wrote to the Minister for Oceans and Fisheries Shane Jones — to request a zero fishing-related mortality limit for hoiho and prohibit set net fishing in key habitats as an urgent interim step.
• Ministers responded in mid-July, saying they were expecting further advice from officials (both Fisheries NZ and DOC) on the range of tools available to manage threats to hoiho. Minister Jones said the advice will be informed by “a new scientific multi-threat risk assessment”. This is due in August.
• Since writing the first letters, ELI was made aware of three more hoiho bycatch deaths. ELI then wrote to Minister Jones a second time, calling for the Minister to use his emergency powers in time for the impending nesting season, which starts in spring - a period critical to the survival of juveniles.