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The Government has today announced its final Threat Management Plan for dolphins which confirms additional protections for the Maui’s dolphin in Taranaki and releases new promising population estimates for the Hector’s dolphin.

“Our greatest concern is for the critically-endangered Maui’s dolphin. It is the world’s smallest and rarest dolphin with an estimated population of just 55 adults,” Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith says.

The Government is proposing to ban the removal of shark fins and the dumping of the shark carcass at sea, Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy and Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith announced today.

The Ministers made the announcement at the Island Bay Marine Education Centre in Wellington, while releasing the National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks for public consultation.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith and Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy are requiring that all fishing vessels in the Southern Blue Whiting fishery around the Campbell Islands use Sea Lion Exclusion Devices after 16 New Zealand Sea Lion fatalities in the past three weeks.

Conservation Minister Dr Nick Smith and Primary Industries Minister Nathan Guy have welcomed the High Court’s decision to dismiss two appeals on the Board of Inquiry’s approval for New Zealand King Salmon to develop new marine farms in the Marlborough Sounds.

The decision of the Board of Inquiry, reached in February 2011, to approve four new salmon farming sites in the Marlborough Sounds was appealed by two parties and that appeal was heard at the High Court in Blenheim in May.

Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy and Minister of Conservation Dr Nick Smith have today announced an interim response to the report of the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment on longfin eels.

“The longfin eel is the largest freshwater eel in the world, has a fascinating lifecycle and is found only in New Zealand. We are committed to ensuring its long-term survival and are taking seriously the concerns raised in the Parliamentary Commission for the Environment’s report,” the Ministers say.