A recent Department of Conservation report showed a decrease in yellow-eyed penguin nest counts on the Otago and Southland coastline in the past year.
Overall, the nest count estimate for the southern east coast was 250, compared with 261 the previous year.
More dramatically, on Codfish Island, near Stewart Island, there were 14 nests now, compared with 24 the previous year.
University of Otago researcher Thomas Mattern and Forest and Bird called for the fishing industry to alter its practices concerning set netting in reaction to this drop.
Mr Helson said yesterday the idea fisheries were a major factor in the decline of the bird was ''simplistic and based on very selective use of information''.
''This is counterproductive. While a reduction from 24 to 14 on Codfish Island is concerning, it needs to be seen in the context of the entire yellow-eyed penguin population, which is estimated to be around 1700 pairs.''
While fishing did pose some risk to yellow-eyed penguins, the industry took a ''range of precautions to limit captures''.
It was ''happy to discuss'' what measures could be implemented to assist further, he said.
''That further assistance needs to be evidence-based. It is well-documented that yellow-eyed penguins face several threats that include predation by sea lions, great white sharks and leopard seals, avian diphtheria, heat stress and dog attacks.
''The vast majority of yellow-eyed penguins inhabit the Auckland and Campbell Islands where no fishing occurs in coastal waters.''
