Independent conservation organisation Forest & Bird wants the Government to take greater steps to protect New Zealand sea lions after it was announced today that sea lions are now considered threatened with extinction.

New Zealand sea lions now have the Department of Conservation's highest endangered ranking - "nationally critical". "They are now in the same category as kakapo and Maui's dolphins," Forest & Bird Conservation Advocate Nicola Vallance says.

"It is astonishing that the Minister of Fisheries has allowed 76 sea lions to be killed in this year's squid fishing season around the sub-Antarctic islands where sea lions breed. So far 40 sea lions are estimated to have been killed in squid fishing nets, and the season is not yet over," Ms Vallance says.

"We wouldn't allow 76 kakapo to be killed by an industry. One sea lion death in a squid net is too many for a species that is heading at breakneck speed towards extinction.

"In the International Year of Biodiversity, the Government should be making even greater efforts to protect our native creatures."

DOC raised the threat status of sea lions during its review of marine mammals. There has been a sharp decline in sea lion pups born in recent summers, and the total sea lion population has dropped to an estimated 9800.

"Forest & Bird calls on Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley to cut the sea lion kill quota to zero for the next squid fishing season. The sea lion population would stand a better chance of recovering if the marine mammal sanctuary around the Auckland Islands was extended and if a sanctuary around Campbell Island was created. This would exclude trawlers from the main feeding grounds of the sea lions during this critical time each year but allow other fishing," Ms Vallance says.

New Zealand sea lions were once found around mainland New Zealand coasts but now breed in a few colonies on sub-Antarctic islands and a few individuals on Otago beaches. They have been classified as a threatened species since 1997. In 1998 the World Conservation Union (IUCN) elevated their threat status by listing them as being in decline.

ENDS