Project
Ocean Advocacy
Protecting hoiho at sea
Hoiho spend more than half of their lives in the ocean. But too many hoiho are lost at sea, not surviving to return to shore to breed. We are taking action: advocating for protection for hoiho at sea.
We are calling for:
- End fatal fishing practices: close set net fisheries across all hoiho habitat.
- Allow the Northern hoiho population and fish stocks to recover.
- Restore the marine habitat: invest in the recovery of the seafloor ecosystem that sustains hoiho.
What's happening
The hoiho spends more than half of its life at sea. It hunts on the sea floor foraging squid, sprat and red cod. As a top predator, the penguin is a key indicator species for the health of the ocean; when the ocean is abundant and healthy so too is the hoiho. We know when foraging conditions are good that adults, and in turn their chicks, are more likely to survive with minimal intervention.
But factors such as overfishing, climate change and warming oceans are putting significant pressure on the marine ecosystem. The seafloor where hoiho forage is degraded, the fish hoiho hunt are disappearing and commercial set nets catch and kill hoiho as bycatch. Now more than ever, we need strong protection and regulations for our marine environment. We must support fish stocks to replenish and put an end to the use of set nets, which pose a direct and fatal threat to protected wildlife.
Our campagins
Set Net Closure
Interactions with set nets cause hoiho to get tangled and drown. We're calling for protection for all hoiho from North Otago to Rakiura Stewart Island.