A sea lion has drowned in a squid net being used off the Auckland Islands.
A New Zealand sea lion. (File photo) Photo: Supplied / David Waters
The death comes despite the use of a device that is supposed to prevent the mammals getting trapped.
There are fewer than 12,000 New Zealand sea lions left.
The latest death was of a juvenile female found at the bottom of a squid net.
The net had a grill attached to it that is supposed to prevent sea lions from entering it.
However, Forest and Bird has long argued that sea lion exclusion devices do not work and there is no way of knowing if they don't simply eject dead or injured sea lions underwater undetected.