It is gratifying to realize that, although some endemic marine subspecies (generally not very different from neighboring subspecies) are endangered to varying degrees, there are very few whose disappearance would result in the disappearance of the species itself from the New Zealand area. Only one endemic marine species has become extinct in recent times, the Auckland Island merganser (Mergus australis) in about 1905, and only six are currently in any real danger: the Chatham Island taiko (Pterodroma magentae), the black petrel, Hutton's shearwater (Puffinus huttoni), the Westland black petrel (Procellaria westlandica), the shore plover, and the Chatham Island oystercatcher (Haematopus chathamensis). However, a list of this kind is often a matter of some controversy. Something is at present being done to help all but the first and last of these. The Chatham Island taiko had not been positively identified for about 50 years, until 1977 when this species was "rediscovered" on the main island of the Chatham group; though its numerical status is unknown, it is rare. The Chatham Island oystercatcher, although certainly "threatened" (only about 50 are known to exist), does occur on four islands, two of which are reserves. Although this species has not been actively studied until now, it is soon to be the subject of a full ecological survey.
A few words about the hunting of marine species: Mutton-birding aside—that is, apart from the taking by Maoris of the young of the sooty shearwater and the gray-faced petrel—there has been no legal hunting of any marine birds in New Zealand for 35 years now, nor is there likely to be. This situation reflects the consistently increasing weight of informed public opinion in favor of, let alone scientific concern for, transoceanic migrants. The pro-hunting lobby for some species of waders, in particular the eastern bar-tailed godwit (Limosa lapponica baueri), is a small one, the numbers of which decrease yearly. However, small-scale poaching occasionally occurs; it is punished when discovered.
Protection for marine species extends only to the 3-mile limit of New Zealand's territorial waters, but it would be extended further should New Zealand follow the present trend of including as territorial waters all those that cover the continental shelf or beyond. [This extension occurred in 1977; the marine fishing zone for New Zealand waters has been extended to 200 miles (360 km) around all coasts.]
Only three marine species are not afforded full protection under the Wildlife Act: two, the black-backed or Dominican gull (Larus dominicanus) and the black shag (Phalacrocorax carbo), are totally unprotected—the first because of its predation on some rare shorebirds during the breeding season and for its attacks on sheep and lambs at a similar time, and the second because of its depredations (seldom serious) on the introduced trout and salmon, mainly in fresh waters—the third species, the southern skua (Stercorarius skua lonnbergi), may be destroyed only when it is actually attacking sheep or lambs, an occasional event confined to the Chatham Islands. Destruction of these three common species is not encouraged by the Wildlife Service except when black-backed gulls become too active among colonies of, say, the fairy tern (Sterna nereis), which is very rare in New Zealand but not elsewhere in its range. Otherwise, control of the species is left in the hands of those most affected by their depredations but whose judgment is usually reasonable.
Marine birds, therefore, are generally satisfactorily protected by law or managed for conservation in New Zealand—especially when one considers the remarkable changes that have occurred in the New Zealand archipelago over the last 200 years. Although the situation could be better, it would certainly have been worse if the Wildlife Service (and other conservation organizations) had not been untiring in keeping the general public and the legislature aware of the issues at stake and seen to it that as much as possible of the necessary conservation work was done—and done before it was too late.
Acknowledgments
I thank my Wildlife Service colleagues, B. D. Bell, M. J. Imber, D. V. Merton, and C. J. R. Robertson, for valuable comments and advice on the preparation of this paper.
References
Atkinson, I. A. E., and B. D. Bell. 1973. Offshore and outlying islands. Pages 372-392 in G. R. Williams, ed. The natural history of New Zealand. A. H. & A. W. Reed, Wellington.
Bourne, W. R. P. 1967. Subfossil petrel bones from the Chatham Islands. Ibis 109:1-7.