Conservation status of indigenous marine species – published October 2019
14 December 2021: This indicator has been updated. See Extinction threat to indigenous marine species.
What is measured
We report on the conservation status and most recent change in status of indigenous (native) resident (breeds in New Zealand) marine species that have been assessed by New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) expert panels. This includes marine mammals (dolphins, whales, seals, and sea lions); seabirds and shorebirds; sharks, rays, and chimaeras (also known as ghost sharks); and a small fraction of marine invertebrates.
Why it is important
Many of New Zealand’s marine species are endemic – they are found nowhere else in the world. This makes New Zealand a marine biodiversity hotspot. For example, New Zealand has the highest number of endemic seabirds in the world (Croxall et al, 2012). New Zealand’s marine species and their ecosystems also provide food species (enabling fisheries and aquaculture) and support cultural opportunities (for example, tourism and fishing). Many of our marine species are considered taonga – of cultural significance and importance to Māori.
Key findings
Of the species assessed, the following were either threatened with or at risk of extinction:
- 90 percent of seabirds (86 of 96 species)
- 80 percent of shorebirds (12 of 15 species)
- 22 percent of indigenous marine mammals (10 of 45 species)
- 9 percent of sharks, rays, and chimaeras (10 of 107 species).
There is not enough information to assess the conservation status (classified as data deficient) of 39 percent of sharks, rays, and chimaeras (42 species), and 67 percent of marine mammals (30 species).
Also classified as data deficient were 60 species of marine invertebrates (15 percent of the identified species), but most of the existing species have not yet been described.
Some species’ conservation status has changed between assessment periods (the years are given in brackets):
- The southern right whale and New Zealand sea lion improved (2016–19).
- Two shorebirds and seven seabirds improved (2012–16). However, four of these may move to a worse conservation status if current conservation management ceases.
- Two seabird species, Campbell Island mollymawk and yellow-eyed penguin/hoiho, worsened (2012–16).
- One marine invertebrate, dwarf white lamp shell, worsened (2009–13).
Where this data comes from
Department of Conservation
View data tables
Related indicators
Related content
- Our marine environment 2019
- Environment Aotearoa 2019
- Our marine environment 2016
- New Zealand Threat Classification System (online database)
- Conservation status of plants and animals
- Pests and threats
About the data
Conservation status is a representation of the threat classification of resident indigenous plant and animal species. The Department of Conservation (DOC) developed the New Zealand Threat Classification System (NZTCS) to provide a national system that is similar to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List. Experts assign a threat of extinction status through a DOC-led process, based on criteria of abundance, distribution, and change in population over time. The criteria are used to monitor the status of individual species and report on the state of indigenous biodiversity (Townsend et al, 2008). In the context of this indicator, the word ‘species’ refers to species, subspecies, varieties, and forms.
Some of the marine species assessed cannot be assigned a conservation status because we lack sufficient information about them (classified as data deficient), and confidence in the quality of data is low for many species that have been assigned a conservation status. We currently don’t report on marine fish (other than sharks, rays, and chimaeras) and algae. The conservation status has been evaluated for only a small fraction (less than 5 percent) of the total marine invertebrate species known to exist in New Zealand. The overall figure for the number of invertebrate species occurring in New Zealand marine waters is estimated to be 12,247 (Gordon et al, 2010).
Our analysis only considered living species. This means we don’t report on species already extinct. However, change in conservation status would capture any extinction events that may have occurred between assessment reports. We included species that are indigenous (native) and resident (breed in New Zealand). We included both taxonomically determinate and indeterminate species in our analysis. Taxonomically determinate species are those generally accepted by relevant experts as distinct units. Taxonomically indeterminate species includes proposed species that have not been formally described and named, or that have been formally described but relevant experts doubt their validity. We used the conservation status groupings set out in the New Zealand Threat Classification System manual.
We report on four conservation status categories: threatened, at risk, not threatened, and data deficient.
Conservation status categories ‘threatened’ and ‘at risk’ are divided into subcategories that provide more information on the species’ threat of extinction classification (adapted from Townsend et al, 2008).
The subcategories within the ‘threatened’ conservation status category are:
- nationally critical: most severely threatened, facing an immediate high risk of extinction
- nationally endangered: facing high risk of extinction in the short term
- nationally vulnerable: facing a risk of extinction in the medium term.
The subcategories within the ‘at risk’ conservation status category are:
- declining: population declining but still abundant
- recovering: small population but increasing after previously declining
- relict: small population stabilised after declining
- naturally uncommon: naturally small population and therefore susceptible to harmful influences.
Species are classified as ‘data deficient’ if we lack information on the species, making threat classification assessment not possible.
NZTCS assessment reports for different groups are done independently of each other, which means the publication dates vary. We used the latest available data as of 27 May 2019 for the following groups:
- Marine mammals 2019 (45 species) (Baker et al, 2019)
- Marine invertebrates 2013 (412 species) (Freeman et al, 2014)
- Sharks, rays, and chimaeras 2016 (107 species) (Duffy et al, 2018)
- Seabirds (96 species) and shorebirds (15 species) are a subset of the bird species listed in Robertson et al (2017) which uses 2016 data.
The data we use does not distinguish marine plants and lichens from those that are terrestrial, therefore marine plants and lichens are not covered here but are included in Conservation status of indigenous land species. Seabirds and shorebirds are a subset of the birds group, and they are excluded from the ‘terrestrial birds’ group reported under the conservation status of indigenous land species. We excluded two shorebird species, bar-tailed godwit and lesser knot, because these are migrant birds. However, their conservation status is assessed by DOC because they spend a long part of their annual cycle in New Zealand.
We looked at changes in conservation status between the NZTCS assessments 2012–16 for birds (Robertson et al, 2017), 2009–13 for marine invertebrates (Freeman et al, 2014), and 2016–19 for marine mammals (Baker et al, 2019). The analysis only considered changes in conservation status that are a result of a change in a species’ population numbers or distribution. The analysis excluded changes in a species’ conservation status that are a result of changes in available information, the classification system, or taxonomy.
Data quality
The accuracy of the data source is of medium quality.
Conservation status of indigenous marine species is a direct measure of the ‘Marine species, taonga species, and genetic diversity’ topic.
Stats NZ and the Ministry for the Environment must report on topics related to the five environmental domains: air, atmosphere and climate, fresh water, land, and marine. These topics identify key issues within each domain.
Topics for environmental reporting describes the topics for each domain.
Data quality information has more information about the criteria we use to assess data quality.
References
Baker, CS, Boren, L, Childerhouse, S, Constantine, R, Van Helden, A, Lundquist, D, … Rolfe, JR (2019). Conservation status of New Zealand marine mammals, 2019. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 29. Wellington. Retrieved from www.doc.govt.nz.
Croxall, JP, Butchart, SHM, Lascelles, BG, Stattersfield, AJ, Sullivan, B, Symes, A, & Taylor, PD (2012). Seabird conservation status, threats and priority actions: a global assessment. Bird Conservation International, 22(1), 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0959270912000020
Duffy, CAJ, Francis, MP, Dunn, M, Finucci, B, Ford, RB, Hitchmough, R, & Rolfe, J (2018). Conservation status of New Zealand chondrichthyans (chimaeras, sharks and rays), 2016. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 23. Wellington. Retrieved from www.doc.govt.nz.
Freeman, DJ, Schnabel, K, Marshall, BA, Gordon, DP, Wing, S, Tracey, DM, & Hitchmough, RA (2014). Conservation status of New Zealand marine invertebrates, 2013. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 9. Wellington. Retrieved from www.doc.govt.nz.
Gordon, DP, Beaumont, J, MacDiarmid, AB, Robertson, DA, & Ahyong, ST (2010). Marine biodiversity of Aotearoa New Zealand. PLoS ONE, 5(8), e10905. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0010905
Robertson, HA, Baird, K, Dowding, JE, Elliott, GP, Hitchmough, RA, Miskelly, CM, … Taylor, GA (2017). Conservation status of New Zealand birds, 2016. New Zealand Threat Classification Series 19. Wellington. Retrieved from www.doc.govt.nz.
Townsend, AJ, de Lange, PJ, Duffy, CAJ, Miskelly, CM, Molloy, J, & Norton, DA (2008). New Zealand Threat Classification System manual. Wellington. Retrieved from www.doc.govt.nz.
Archived pages
Archived October 2019:
