A rare type of dolphin, the Hector's dolphin/ahoaho, has died off the South Island coast after being caught as bycatch.
The dolphin was caught off the Otago Peninsula on Sunday by a commercial fishing 'set net' - the type anchored to the sea floor with weights.
The vessel's skipper reported it to Fisheries New Zealand / Te Tini a Tangaroa, as required by law, and the dolphin was sent to the Department of Conservation for a post-mortem.
But Emma Taylor, Fisheries NZ's director of fisheries management, was not impressed.
"Hector's dolphins are classified as nationally vulnerable and the loss of any is extremely disappointing," Taylor said.
A fisheries observer was also aboard the boat, which was targeting school shark, a common species sold at fish and chip stores around the motu.
Taylor said measures have since been triggered in the Government's plan to reduce accidental captures "of these precious taonga."
The bycatch limit in Otago for this species is just two.
It's estimated 12,000 to 18,000 ahoaho/Hector's dolphins live in South Island waters - with 9000 of those on the east coast.
Fisheries NZ will next meet industry players and local set netters to make plans to avoid further captures.
"Following this, Fisheries New Zealand will brief the Ministers on whether further regulatory changes should be considered," Taylor said.
Last November, two ahoaho/Hector's dolphins were killed near Pegasus Bay in Canterbury by trawlers.
The last reported capture by set net in Canterbury was in 2020.
