Hughes Gareth: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Hughes Gareth: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:676;Page:21802] 
12. 
GARETH HUGHES (Green) 
 to the  
Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture 
: Does he have confidence in New Zealand’s fisheries management system in particular how it deals with bycatch? 
Hon PHIL HEATLEY (Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture) 
: 
 Yes. New Zealand has an internationally recognised fisheries management system. Of course we are constantly introducing improvements. 
Gareth Hughes 
: Is it possible that the country’s favourite emperor penguin Happy Feet was killed by a trawler? 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I call the Hon Phil Heatley in so far as the Minister has responsibility for Happy Feet. 
Hon PHIL HEATLEY 
: It is highly improbable because my officials had a screen of Happy Feet’s transponder next to a screen of fishing vessels’ transponders and they never came near to each other. 
Gareth Hughes 
: Given that the Minister in his response to questions for written answer identified that there were nine southern blue whiting trawlers recorded within 20 to 50 nautical miles of Happy Feet’s last known location how can he say it is highly unlikely that he was killed by a trawler? 
Hon PHIL HEATLEY 
: Mr Speaker—[ 
Interruption 
]  
Mr SPEAKER 
: I want to hear the Minister’s answer. It will be interesting. 
Hon PHIL HEATLEY 
: I can report that when Happy Feet’s transponder turned off the nearest southern blue whiting fishing vessel was 32 kilometres away. Its fishing lines are not 32 kilometres long. 
Paul Quinn 
: Is the Minister able to advise us as to what did happen to Happy Feet? 
Hon PHIL HEATLEY 
: I really want to. I have heard it said that Happy Feet may very well have become a happy meal. 
Gareth Hughes 
: To the Minister—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I realise that this is the last question of this parliamentary term but I still want to hear it. 
Gareth Hughes 
: Given that a southern blue whiting trawler can cover 50 nautical miles in a day—and we are talking about an incredibly long net that is almost half a kilometre wide and 75 metres high—how can the Minister claim that it is very unlikely that Happy Feet was possibly trawled by a southern blue whiting trawler? 
Hon PHIL HEATLEY 
: The reason I say it is highly unlikely is that when Happy Feet’s transponder—or whatever we call it—turned off the closest vessel was 32 kilometres away. That would have meant that the vessel raced the transponder’s emission which went probably faster than—or close to—the speed of light. That is a very fast fishing vessel indeed. 
Gareth Hughes 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. It was a very good answer but it did not get to the question which was whether a trawler can cover 50 nautical miles in a day. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I think the Minister gave a pretty fair answer as to why he believes that the trawler could not have caught Happy Feet because of the difference in the speed of the transponder’s signal compared with a trawler’s speed. I think that is a reasonable answer to that question but the member does have some more supplementary questions to pursue the matter. 
Gareth Hughes 
: Would Happy Feet have had any chance of survival had he been captured by a southern blue whiting trawler given that the net is 400 metres wide and 75 metres high and that the vessel can trawl for 6 to 8 hours at a time? 
Hon PHIL HEATLEY 
: I hate to sink the member further but unfortunately the fact is that the closest vessel to Happy Feet when the transponder went off was the  
Tangaroa 
 which was the boat that released Happy Feet. 
Gareth Hughes 
: Is the Minister concerned—[ 
Interruption 
] 
Mr SPEAKER 
: I apologise to the member but—[ 
Interruption 
] Colleagues please. I believe we have only a couple more questions so if we could just hold it together for that length of time. 
Gareth Hughes 
: Is the Minister concerned that a southern blue whiting fishery not only posed a possible threat to the emperor penguin Happy Feet 
but also is the fishery with the highest bycatch of New Zealand fur seals and that also captures seabirds and critically endangered sea lions? 
Hon PHIL HEATLEY 
: As I said I am reasonably convinced that a southern blue whiting vessel did not catch Happy Feet. We are always disappointed about bycatch but the industry is working very well with the Ministry of Fisheries to minimise this. 
Gareth Hughes 
: Will the Minister consider stopping the destructive practice of bottom trawling given its devastating effects on the marine environment and endangered species and the risk to our fisheries image globally and given that last week the  
Guardian 
 ran an article on New Zealand’s Hector’s dolphin that was covered prominently in the UK media? Is that a risk to our “clean green” brand? 
Hon PHIL HEATLEY 
: The fishing industry has voluntarily closed one-third of New Zealand’s deep-sea space to bottom trawling. We support that move. It is one of the largest closed areas in the world which shows a responsible attitude. I support that.