Shane Jones faces person dressed as Grim Reaper outside environment conference

Fisheries Minister Shane Jones has come face-to-face with the Grim Reaper outside an environment conference in Auckland.

The Environmental Defence Society's (EDS) conference 'Beyond the election: A new mandate for our environment' at the Grand Millenium Hotel held its second and final day on Thursday.

Jones was one of the small political party representatives invited to share their environment and conservation policies during a panel on Thursday morning.

Outside the venue, Māui and Hector's Dolphin Defenders spokesperson, Christine Rose, along with a person dressed in a Grim Reaper costume, asked Jones about Hector's Dolphin deaths at the hands of the fishing industry.

"It's a national shame. Under your watch 25 Hector's Dolphins [in the past two years] have been killed by the fishing industry," Rose said.

Jones responded: "There are thousands of Hector's dolphins, and of course Māui's dolphin don't exist.

"They have not been killed by the fishing industry. Look, it's like these killer whales. They could very well have been dead by the time they go in the net," he added.

Another panel earlier in the day featured companies engaged in bottom trawling. The panel was billed to focus on "how smart engineering and innovative technologies can address the environmental impacts of bottom trawling".

Rose told RNZ they were not protesting the event or the EDS but aiming to raise awareness about bottom trawling harming dolphins and call out "green washing".

"Bottom trawling killed more Hector's dolphins than any other known cause, and especially in the last two years while Shane Jones has been minister. They've all been reported by the fishers themselves," Rose said.

"We heard Shane Jones say, there are thousands of Hector's dolphins. But even his ministry acknowledges that these are small populations that cannot withstand, in some populations, even a single death in a year."

When approached for comment on Rose's claims about Hector's dolphins, the minister's office referred RNZ to the Ministry for Primary Industries.

In a statement, Director of Fisheries Management, Emma Taylor, said the claim was not correct.

She said each population has a Fishing-Related Mortality Limit (FRML) -- essentially a number of dolphins allowed to be killed by the fishing industry.

"All of these populations have a FRML higher than one, with the lowest being the South Coast South Island subpopulation with a FRML of three biennially, and the Otago local population with a FRML of two annually.

"To date, no FRML has been met or exceeded."