New Zealand sea lion captures and interactions with flatfish trawl fisheries, in the Northland and Hauraki area
Between 2003 and 2016, there was no observed fishing in flatfish trawl fisheries in the Northland and Hauraki area.
In the Auckland Islands squid fishery, trawl nets are currently required to be fitted with sea lion exclusion devices (SLEDs). These are grids that prevent the sea lions from entering the cod end, with a hole in the net that is designed to allow the sea lions to escape. Estimated interactions are the captures that would have been observed, had observers been present on all vessels, and had SLEDs not been used. In fisheries that don't use SLEDs, interactions are equivalent to captures.
*Figures and plots relating to the 2021 calendar year include data from 1 January to 30 September only.
