New Zealand's marine environment is being described as a mess, but isn't beyond help.
A Ministry for the Environment and Stats NZ report says 90 per cent of seabirds, 80 per cent of shorebirds and 20 per cent of marine mammals are threatened with, or at risk of, extinction.
NIWA principal scientist Matt Pinkerton told Kate Hawkesby it's grim reading, but it is salvageable.
"Climate change is here for the long run - so there needs to be strategies in place about how to reduce the worst effects."
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