Conservation groups have welcomed the Government's announcement to speed up the banning of shark finning in New Zealand waters, but say the devil could be in the details.
The Government has decided to speed up the process in the face of overwhelming public concern.
Around 45,300 submissions were made about the draft National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks, which proposed an end to shark finning by October 2016.

Thousands of pieces of plastic have been discovered, submerged along the river bed of the upper Thames Estuary by scientists at Royal Holloway, University of London and the Natural History Museum.
The sheer amount of plastic recovered shows there is an unseen stream of rubbish flowing through London which could be a serious threat to aquatic wildlife. The findings, published online in Marine Pollution Bulletin, highlight the cause for concern, not only for ecosystems around the river but for the North Sea, in to which the Thames flows.