Forest and Bird says reports from fishing boat observers shows brutal treatment of shark by-catch.
Mako shark Photo: 123RF
The reports were written by Government observers on longline fishing vessels between 2016 and 2021, and the information was release under the Official Information Act.
Forest and Bird spokesperson Geoff Keey said the observers reported incidents of sharks being repeatedly stabbed, and being thrown overboard alive with their jaws hanging off after hooks were cut out.
Reports from fishing boat observers included:
"Crew member who stabbed sharks needlessly is now swinging them by their tails and throwing them as high as he can."
"'Animal cruelty act' note on BWS (blue sharks) discards. Crew have been hauling some smaller ones onboard to retrieve the hooks. The handling of these sharks is brutal as they stand on them and cut the jaws through to the gills and guts at times to get the hooks back then discard the dying body. No effort is made to kill them first."
"I heard the skipper, [redacted], tell a crew member that with the quota he leases, he is also allocated BWS (blue shark) quota. He was given the quota and told to use it by killing as many BWS as possible to reduce the population size. Basically even if a BWS is alive the crew are enticed to kill it and return it to the sea. Today all 8 dead BWS that were returned to the sea under Schedule 6 were killed deliberately and it was not necessary to do so."
Geoff Keey said these actions aren't currently illegal and that needs to change.
"It was really disappointing to see the attitudes that were revealed in these observer reports," he said. "Just the way they were killing sharks, just the lack of respect for animals. And the fact that some skippers at least were telling their crew - kill every shark you see."
"There is an exemption in the law that allows them currently to discard blue shark, mako shark, and porbeagle shark. It is meant to be for those accidentally injured beyond repair, those that won't survive but in practise what we are seeing is deliberate killing and maiming of the sharks and then throwing them overboard. "
Keey said the observer reports were believed to be just a small example of a much wider problem.
He said New Zealand had a zero by-catch goal but what had been observed was completely contrary to that.
The Government is preparing a national plan of action for sharks, and Keey said he would like to see this type of behaviour outlawed.
"There should be where-ever possible live release. If something is not food it should be released live, back to the ocean."
Seafood New Zealand directed RNZ to speak to Fisheries Inshore New Zealand on the issue, but no one from Fisheries Inshore New Zealand was available to respond today.