NSW Scientific Committee - final determination
The Scientific Committee found that:
1. The New Zealand Fur-seal, Arctocephalus forsteri, is an otariid seal which preys on fish and cephalopods, and to a lesser extent on birds such as penguins, both in shallow inshore waters and around the margins of the continental shelf. The species utilises rocky habitat as breeding and haul-out sites and appears to avoid open rock platforms and sandy or pebbly beaches (Goldsworthy et al. 1997).
2. In Australian waters, the species has been reported from Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland (south of Fraser Island). Australian breeding colonies of the New Zealand Fur-seal are known from islands off Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania (including Macquarie Island). Although the New Zealand Fur-seal does not breed in NSW, habitat and resources within the state are important to non-breeding individuals. Montague Island (near Narooma) is a regularly used haul-out site in NSW (Shaughnesy et al. 2001), although other infrequently used haul-out sites have been recorded along the NSW coast.
3. The New Zealand Fur-seal suffered a severe decline as a result of commercial sealing from 1798 until protection measures were introduced in Western Australia in 1892 and in South Australia in 1919 (Warneke 1982). Breeding colonies on islands in Bass Strait were eliminated by the early 1800s. The Kangaroo Island (South Australia) breeding colony has increased during the 1980s and 1990s (Shaughnessy et al. 1995; Shaughnessy 1997) and similar increases have been observed for Western Australian colonies (Gales et al. 2000). However, it is only recently that the species showed signs of recolonising the Bass Strait breeding sites (Arnould et al. 2000).
4. The New Zealand Fur-seal is threatened by commercial and recreational fishing operations, particularly through bycatch mortality around Montague Island (Smith 2001). In addition, fishing operations may limit the availability of prey items for visiting seals. The species also is threatened by entanglement or ingestion of plastic debris that is increasingly discarded from boats or washed out to sea (Jones 1994). The reduced population of New Zealand Fur-seals, resulting from commercial sealing, has increased the species' vulnerability to other threats. The small, temporal aggregation at Montague Island is susceptible to stochastic events such as oil spills.
5. In view of the above points, the Scientific Committee is of the opinion that the New Zealand Fur-seal, A. forsteri, is likely to become endangered unless the circumstances and factors threatening its survival or evolutionary development cease to operate, and is therefore eligible for listing as a Vulnerable Species.
Proposed Gazettal date: 24/05/02
Exhibition period: 24/05/02 - 28/06/02
References
Arnould, J.P.Y., Littnan, C.L. and Lento, G.M. (2000). First contemporary record of New Zealand fur seals Arctocephalus forsteri breeding in Bass Strait. Australian Mammalogy 22, 57-62.
Gales, N.J., Haberley, B. and Collins, P. (2000). Changes in the abundance of New Zealand fur seals, Arctocephalus forsteri, in Western Australia. Wildlife Research 27, 165-8.
Goldsworthy, S.D., Pemberton, D. and Warneke, R.M. (1997). Field identification of Australian and New Zealand Fur Seals, Arctocephalus spp., based on external characters. In 'Marine Mammal Research in the Southern Hemisphere, Volume 1, Status, Ecology and Medicine'. (Eds M. Hindell and C. Kemper.) pp. 63-71. (Surrey Beatty and Sons: Chipping Norton, NSW.)
Jones, M.M. (1994). 'Fishing Debris in the Australian Marine Environment.' (Bureau of Resource Sciences: Canberra.)
Shaughnessy, P.D. (1997). Abundance of New Zealand fur-seals Arctocephalus forsteri at some colonies in South Australia, 1995/96. Report to the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service.
Shaughnessy, P.D., Goldsworthy, S.D. and Libke, J.A. (1995). Changes in the abundance of New Zealand fur seals, Arctocephalus forsteri, on Kangaroo Island, South Australia. Wildlife Research 22, 201-15.
Shaughnessy, P.D., Briggs, S.V. and Constable, R. (2001). Observations on seals at Montague Island, New South Wales. Australian Mammalogy 23, 1-7.
Smith, P. (2001). Review of the conservation status of marine mammals in New South Wales. Report to the NSW Scientific Committee.
Warneke, R.M. (1982). The distribution and abundance of seals in the Australasian region, with summaries of biology and current research. In 'Mammals in the Seas, Volume IV, Small Cetaceans, Seals, Sirenians and Otters'. pp. 431-75. (Food and Agriculture Organisation: Rome.)