Emergency Fishing Ban Enforced to Protect Endangered Hoiho Around Otago Peninsula
Otago Peninsula, September 16, 2025 – An emergency ban on set net fishing has been enforced around the Otago Peninsula in a bid to protect the endangered hoiho (yellow-eyed penguin). The closure, announced by Oceans and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones, took effect at 5pm on Tuesday, 16 September and will remain in place for three months.
The move comes after years of sharp population decline among hoiho. Once numbering 739 breeding pairs in 2008, recent surveys show only 143 pairs remain, representing an 80 percent decline. The breeding season, which began in August, is considered a particularly vulnerable time for the species.
Conservation groups including the Yellow-eyed Penguin Trust and the Environmental Law Initiative have been urging for stronger protections, pointing to the growing threats of by-catch, disease, predation, climate change, and food shortages. Records show that between October 2019 and June 2025, 17 hoiho were killed in fishing incidents, mostly from entanglement in set nets.
A four-nautical-mile set net ban is already in place along the Otago coast, but research shows hoiho often forage up to 20 nautical miles offshore, well beyond the existing restricted zone. The new emergency closure is intended to address that gap while officials consult the public on permanent by-catch measures.
Minister Jones acknowledged the impact the ban would have on local fishers but stressed the urgent need to act:
“This decision has not been taken lightly. While we understand the disruption to livelihoods, the survival of the northern hoiho requires immediate intervention,” he said.
The Ministry of Primary Industries will also release a multi-threat risk assessment later this year. The assessment has identified starvation and predation as the most significant threats to hoiho, followed by fishing-related risks and disease.
The emergency ban marks a decisive step in New Zealand’s conservation efforts, with officials and advocates warning that without strong action, hoiho could face local extinction within decades.
