New Zealand Greens Fighting Marine Gold Prospecting

New Zealand’s Green Party is urging further restrictions on marine activities, including the planned gold prospecting off the West Coast seabed, in a bid to protect dolphin habitats.

Green MP Metiria Turei said her party was worried about the "proliferation" of seabed-prospecting licenses being granted within the habitats of two types of dolphins.

Turei plans to highlight concerns over plans by Seafield Resources Ltd to prospect for gold over 10,000 sq km of seabed. Seafield has teamed up with De Beers in the West Coast project.

Although Seafield has been awarded the necessary prospecting permits, it also needs authorizations from the Department of Conservation (DoC) and resource consent from the West Coast Regional Council.

The Greens are particularly concerned about the potential effects of prospecting on hector's dolphins, the smallest dolphins in the world, because they are such slow breeders. Although there are an estimated 5,000 of them off the West Coast, the maximum population growth is only two percent annually.

The Greens are angry that Seafield and De Beers can carry out prospecting and seismic testing in the waters off the New Zealand coast with the potential to seriously impact marine life with no opportunity for public scrutiny or comment beyond 12 nautical miles.

Although the DoC is putting the finishing touches to a code of conduct for seismic survey testing, these will be voluntary and inadequate, according to the Greens.