Kiwis are being asked to give the Minister for Ocean and Fisheries Shane Jones 'the finger' in a new campaign that aims to boost the country's marine protected areas.
The World Wildlife Fund for Nature New Zealand (WWFNZ) is calling for 30 percent of our oceans to be placed within Marine Protected Areas by 2030, in the campaign called 'Give Shane Jones The Finger'.
"Until you commit to protecting 30 percent of our ocean by 2030, New Zealand is committed to giving you the finger," the campaign reads.
Each signature will send an image of a crumbed fish finger directly to his inbox, along with a message reading: "Until you commit to protecting 30 percent of our ocean by 2030, New Zealand is committed to giving you the finger."
Speaking with AM on Monday, WWFNZ CEO Dr Kayla Kingdon-Bebb stressed the declining health of the country's oceans.
"New Zealanders are ocean people. More than half of us live close to five kilometres near the coast, we rely on the ocean directly or indirectly to feed our families," Kingdon-Bebb said.
"But our ocean's health is in crisis," she said. "Ninety percent of our seabirds and up to 30 percent of our marine mammals are threatened with extinction."
"Since the 1980s some of our key fish stocks have depleted by more than 80 percent."
Kingdon-Bebb believes Jones isn't interested in addressing the decline.
"I mean since he's taken the portfolio on, he's scrapped the limit of New Zealand's sea lions that can be killed in the southern trawl fishery, he's scrapped the plans for the Kermadec Ocean Sanctuary - which would protect 14 percent of our ocean territory - and he's indicated he's keen to review the role of camera's on boats, which is probably the most effective fisheries management tool that we have seen in the last two decades."
Newshub has contacted Jones for comment.
Last month, Jones responded to backlash from Kingdon-Bebb over scrapping the limit of sea lion deaths.
"I think that we've got bigger things to worry about. There's probably more sea lions being predated upon by killer whales than politicians," he said at the time.
Kingdon-Bebb said if change doesn't happen soon, "we face a very real future where snapper is a luxury of the past and our grandchildren never get to encounter a Hector's dolphin in the wild."
"Shane Jones has been crystal clear that driving export-led economic growth is his number one priority, at whatever cost - even if that means pushing our threatened native species to extinction and plunging our ocean into a further state of decline," she added.
"Because much of our ocean is out of sight, out of mind, Shane Jones thinks he can get away with turning a blind eye to the crisis we face - but I think Kiwis would be shocked if they knew just how poorly we are looking after our marine environment, and how increasingly out of step we're becoming with the rest of the world."
Kingdon-Bebb added: "Jones' track record of siding with destructive industries like seabed mining and fossil fuel extraction over the health of our ocean warrants Kiwis giving him 'the finger' and confronting him about his 'fishy behaviour'."
She said that "while the campaign is deliberately tongue-in-cheek" the issues are serious.
"With this campaign, we're poking a bit of fun at the issue but behind it, there's a really serious message at play because we are - quite literally - killing our ocean."
"I hope that if we can get the public on board, it will be a wake-up call for Shane Jones that Kiwis don't want to see commercial fishing and seabed mining prioritised over the treasured native species and places that make us who we are."
The campaign comes just days after social media posts revealed a group of men taking part in an alleged fishing spree at the Poor Knights islands off the Tūtūkākā Coast in Northland.
