The hoiho / yellow-eyed penguin. Photo: Supplied / Craig McKenzie
An emergency fishing ban off the Otago Peninsula will continue until September next year.
The three-month set-net closure was imposed by Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones to protect the endangered northern hoiho.
Jones announced on Wednesday he was extending the ban by another nine months while officials worked on long-term protections.
"All the options and feedback must be carefully reviewed because this is a move that cannot be rushed," he said.
"We need to strike the right balance between reducing accidental fishing bycatch of hoiho while not unfairly impacting fishers who work hard to provide for their families and communities."
The extension followed a High Court challenge from the Environmental Law Initiative, which argued the original ban did not go far enough.
Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones is criticising legal action around the ban. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
Jones said the legal challenge was unfortunate, as it diverted scientists and officials from their work on hoiho protection.
The government had originally aimed to settle on long-term measures during the initial three-month closure, he said.
"Key scientists and officials' efforts were redirected to responding to litigation rather than focusing on hoiho protection," he said.
"These delays increase the uncertainty for affected commercial fishers and do nothing to help the hoiho population."
Public consultation on the long-term measures opened last month.
Submissions close on 12 December.
"While the extension is until September next year, I anticipate receiving advice from my officials early in 2026, and I will make a decision on the longer-term measures that will replace the emergency closure soon after that," Jones said.
Environmental Law Initiative (ELI) spokesperson Dr Matt Hall defended its legal action, saying it was a necessary bid to protect hoiho from extinction.
"The emergency closure does not do anything to protect hoiho around Rakiura, the Catlins and other known hoiho habitat outside of the closure. This was why we challenged the minister's decision.
"We have already learnt the cost of the limited closure, when a hoiho was drowned in a set net off the coast of Rakiura in late November."
Hall said the minister introduced the closure after the organisation and the public requested urgent intervention.
"We welcome the extension of the closure, but neither it nor the draft long-term measures are currently adequate to secure the future of these remarkable birds on our coasts.
"The long-term measures proposed by Fisheries NZ offer little protection for hoiho around Rakiura, the Catlins and other hoiho habitat, with no proposed set net ban in those areas.
"Only one of the options proposes any kind of limit on fishing related deaths. They've proposed allowing four hoiho deaths a year before it would trigger consideration of regulatory response. Even then it doesn't require action.
"As the Yellow-Eyed Penguin Trust has highlighted, we simply cannot afford any more deaths from fishing. The population needs to grow, not be killed."
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