However, Fisheries Minister Shane Jones said the government would not be "panicked or intimidated by loud, shrill voices" and he had no intention of changing the rules around fishing in the areas inhabited by the species.
Māui and Hector’s Dolphin Defenders chairwoman Christine Rose is touring the South Island to promote events in Dunedin on February 8 and Invercargill on February 10, to raise awareness of the issue.
The species is found only in New Zealand and there are only about 40 Hector’s dolphins in Otago waters and 200 in Southland. They are at risk of extinction if things continue to operate the way they are, she said.
"They are being wiped out by the fishing industry in trawl and set nets. No dolphin should be killed in a fishing net.
"Thousands have been killed since industrial fishing began, and 17 since Prime Minister Christopher Luxon took office.
"We're calling for protection of the dolphins throughout their range, and that's out to about 100 metres deep or 20 nautical miles [offshore], so they can be prevented from becoming extinct."
"Cameras on boats are revealing their worth, exposing the true impacts of the fishing industry.
"So we're saying there needs to be permanent bans, and that's been backed up by the world authorities on dolphin and whale conservation, such as the International Whaling Commission and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature."
She approached the Prime Minister, the Conservation Minister Tama Potaka and Fisheries Minister Shane Jones and they "basically say that it's OK to kill 50 Hector’s dolphins a year," she said.
"How they think that's acceptable, because the people of New Zealand certainly don't think it's acceptable, and the people of the world don't think it's acceptable."
Speaking to the Otago Daily Times, Mr Jones said there had been already litigation in the US courts and this was very costly as New Zealand’s exports took a blow of several million dollars.
"There has been a huge catastrophe around Maui's dolphin . . . There are thousands of Hector's dolphins all around the South Island.
"I think the majority of South Islanders are worried about income and maintaining jobs. They want the government to take a balanced approach and not be panicked or intimidated by loud, shrill voices from the NGO sector.
He said there were mitigation measures in place and he believed people across the country appreciated the fishing industry was big part of the country’s export and employed many New Zealand families.
"No-one goes out deliberately targeting a dolphin . . . but it's a wildlife industry and from time to time, things don't work out as intended.
"They are part of the natural environment and they are one of the elements that we manage in relation to the fishing industry, but I have no intention of closing any part of the fishing industry down."
