OMV Great South Basin Marine Discharge Consent
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OMV Great South Basin Marine discharge consent Submission Reference no: 203 Susan Mary Fitchett Submitter Type: Not specified Source: Email Overall Notes: Clause Do you intend to have a spokesperson who will act on your behalf (e.g. a lawyer or professional advisor)? Position No Notes Clause You will receive information by email. Please indicate if you are unable to receive emails. Position I can receive emails and my email address is correct. Notes Clause Do you wish to speak to your submission at the hearing? Position No I/we do not wish to speak to my/our submission at the hearing Notes Clause What decision do you want the Decision-making Committee to make and why? Provide reasons in the box below. Position Refuse Notes I want the EPA to take a precautionary approach and refuse OMV GSB's application for the following reasons; 1. Our country has just passed into law the Zero Carbon Bill. At last the country is recognizing the climate crisis the world is facing. I believe the current climate crisis requires all oil exploration and development of fossil fuel reserves to come to an end as soon as possible. This application goes against the evidence of what is needed to save our planet from the worst climate change scenarios as outlined by the latest ICCP report. 2. I have recently visited both the Royal Albatross colony and the yellow eyed penguin colony in Otago. They are both threatened and/or endangered species, due to factors such as a warming ocean, reduced food sources and ocean pollution. The activities of OMV GSB would lead to the discharge of further toxic substances into the marine environment. This could further reduce the future sustainability of these iconic south island marine based birds. It is clear from several reports into global biodiversity and biodiversity in Aotearoa (Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment) that all the earth's non-human species face potential extinction and here in Aotearoa our unique bird life has a number of critically endangered species. 3. What do we want for our children and grandchildren. An inhabitable planet with only a small number of surviving species or a flourishing environment that has turned the 'doomsday' environmental clock back to a safe time. This is an ethical question which underlies the need for the EPA to refuse this application. (DRAFT) Reversing the Penguin Decline in New Zealand F&B discussion document Robinson Richard by Penguins Crested Snares Photo: Prepared by Karen A Baird (F & B/BirdLife International Marine Programme) Summary & Key Recommendations Penguins breeding in New Zealand have been significantly impacted by the arrival of humans. On land these impacts have included direct early exploitation for food by Maori, clearance of breeding habitat and introduction of mammalian predators. On-going human induced impacts include coastal development, visitor disturbance, predators and dogs. In the marine environment penguins are very vulnerable to bycatch in fisheries especially set nets where yellow eyed penguins and little penguins have been captured over many years. Tawaki are also known to be caught, although the extent of the impact is not known due to very low observer coverage. Expanding oil and gas exploration and increasing shipping traffic presents a real threat to penguins from oil spills. The Rena oil spill in 2011 showed that penguins are especially vulnerable to the impacts of oil spills. Plastics in the marine environment are an increasing concern for seabirds including penguins, especially little penguin. Penguins are particularly influenced by environmental changes, compared with flying seabirds as they cannot range far from their nesting sites while foraging to feed their chicks. Consequently they are dependent on abundant food near their breeding colonies. All penguins in New Zealand seem to be strongly influenced by food abundance, with only the Snares penguin appearing to have a stable food supply. Factors that influence food supply are not well understood but include marine habitat destruction such as from fishing trawlers and potential competition with commercial fisheries for food species. Natural fluctuations in the marine environment such as el Niño and la Niña, and increasingly the impacts of climate disruption on productivity of the oceans are known to be occurring in New Zealand. Disease is increasingly seen as a major threat to depressed and stressed populations such as mainland yellow eyed penguin, but has rarely been investigated in other species. Often the extent to which these factors, either individually or in combination, are affecting the overall populations of different penguin species is unknown. Although each penguin species has its own specific characteristics and our level of understanding of the different factors affecting their populations is different there are many commonalities on a broad scale of these actual and potential impacts. The most pressing issue is predator control around the mainland of New Zealand and on the few remaining remote or large offshore islands that 2 | P a g e are not predator free. Penguins also need to be protected from the direct and indirect impacts of fishing activities. This discussion document proposes the following key recommendations for penguin conservation and recovery: 1. The establishment of a Penguin Recovery Group, administered by the Department of Conservation that will facilitate a more coordinated and collaborative approach to conservation of all penguins. 2. Eradicate pigs and cats on the Auckland Islands (to protect Eastern rockhopper and yellow eyed penguin) and cats and rats from Stewart Island (to protect yellow eyed penguin and tawaki) 3. Ensure adequate biosecurity measures and contingency plans are in place for all penguin breeding islands in the subantarctic, including regular biosecurity monitoring. 4. Establishment of Marine Protected Areas around colonies identified as Important Bird Areas to restrict fisheries activity in foraging areas and reduce impacts from oil exploration and drilling around breeding and foraging habitat. 5. Use penguins as important examples of species at risk in New Zealand from climate change. 6. Support/promote regular surveys of all New Zealand penguin species to monitor population trends and success of conservation/recovery interventions. Introduction. This report has been prepared in response to BirdLife International Marine Programmes new global focus on penguins. New Zealand has six extant breeding penguins from a world total of 18 species (33% of penguin species), with all but one penguin species suffering population declines. The mainland population of the endemic genus yellow-eyed penguin has suffered significant declines in the last 2-3 years while the population trend on the subantarctic population is not known. Little penguins in New Zealand are likely to be two congeneric species (Australian and New Zealand) which will likely require the New Zealand little penguin’s conservation status to be elevated. Tawaki or Fiordland crested penguin lives in remote, difficult to access places so that population trend is difficult to ascertain. The catastrophic decline of the Eastern Rock hopper penguins around the southern hemisphere is well known and causes in New Zealand appear to be linked to oceanic warming and cooling periods affecting food supply. Erect crested penguin was recently extirpated from Campbell Island possibly due to impacts from mammals but also potentially from the same changes in the marine environment that are affecting rockhopper penguins. The only penguin probably not suffering declines (Snares crested penguin) is also the most range restricted (one island group) and hence vulnerable to other threats such as oil pollution and fisheries. 3 | P a g e This paper attempts to summarise what we know about the major issues affecting penguins in New Zealand and identify opportunities to initiate or contribute to penguin conservation projects in New Zealand. A list of priority projects is included as Appendix 1. A number of penguin experts were kind enough to give me the benefit of their experience and knowledge to help me to prepare this report. I would like to thank everyone involved and to invite comments to this discussion document. 4 | P a g e Yellow-eyed Penguin (Megadyptes antipodes) IUCN status: Endangered NZ Threat Classification: Threatened-Nationally Vulnerable. Yellow-eyed Penguin. Photo: Kim Westerskov Background The endemic yellow-eyed penguin (YEP) is the largest penguin breeding on NZ mainland. Recent evidence suggests it replaced a similar Waitaha penguin on the mainland after it became extinct through harvesting around 1500 AD. It belongs to an endemic genus Megadyptes. YEPs breed on the southeast coast of the South Island, Stewart Island and adjacent islands and in the subantarctic on the Auckland and Campbell Islands. Pre-European, these penguins would have nested in coastal hardwood forest but habitat loss means that penguins also now nest in regenerating forest, rough pasture and on exposed cliffs. Recent research also suggests that the two populations on the mainland and subantarctic are genetically distinct (Boessenkool et al 2009 in MeClellan and Smith 2014), suggesting they should be managed as distinct management units. This has been used as the basis for the Commercial fisheries risk assessment processes, for example. 5 | P a g e Population Seddon (2013) puts the total population at around 1700 breeding pairs, with the majority in the subantarctic on the Auckland (520-570) (1989 estimate - Recovery Plan 2000, DOC) and Campbell Islands 1992 estimate (490-600). The South Island estimate is 600 pairs and around 180 on Stewart Island. However that latest estimates for YEPs on the mainland are around 150-170 pairs (YEP Trust – pers. comm.), after some major catastrophic events over the last couple of years. The Stewart Island population had been estimated at 220-400 pairs prior to 1994 however later surveys found only 178 active nests suggesting a decline. This is further supported by recent declines in nest numbers at particular sites including Codfish Island (part of Stewart Island group) from 61 nests in 2001-2002 to 39 nests in 2011.