A hundred life-sized sea lion cut-outs are displayed on the shores of Wellington's Oriental Bay today (Monday) as a conservation organisation calls on the public and the government to protect the critically endangered New Zealand sea lions.

This develops as police in Otago are investigating the case of a young New Zealand sea lion with a bullet lodged in its decomposing body.

Conservation organisation Forest & Bird raises Kiwis's awareness on New Zealand sea lions, which are a nationally critical species - the highest-risk classification, the Dominion Post reported.

The event is also designed to ask the government to consider the consequence of squid fishing to sea lions.

University of Otago senior zoology lecturer Bruce Robertson recently said fishing was the most likely reason for the diminishing number of sea lions, and this could lead to extinction within ten years if the Government accepted the recommendation of Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) on managing the species.

MAF has been considering submissions on managing a squid fishery near the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands, the Dominion Post reported.

The initial position paper proposes there should be no limit imposed on the number of sea lions accidentally caught in trawling nets in the fishery.

However, a research by the Department of Conservation (DOC) had concluded that if the current bycatch of sea lions continued at current levels, the species could be "functionally extinct" by 2035.

Primary Industries Minister David Carter is expected to make a decision on the MAF recommendation in March.