Fishing ... for Australian Sea Lions

The Wilderness Society (South Australia) Inc
Media Release
1 November 2009

With the Great Australian Bight shark fishing season reopening today, The Wilderness Society is calling upon State and Federal Governments to take urgent action to protect the endangered Australian Sea Lion.

The Great Australian Bight Marine Park is one of South Australia’s most iconic eco-tourism destinations but what local and international tourists don’t know is that shark fishing within the park is pushing Australian Sea Lions to the brink of extinction.

Each year the shark fishery in South Australia sets enough gillnets to span the width of the State’s coastline 7 times over.  Scientific estimates suggest up to 300 Australian Sea Lions are killed by these nets every year. 

Hunted almost to extinction in centuries past, only around 14,000 Australian Sea Lions remain in the wild today and despite their status as a protected species, their numbers are declining. 

“Hunting for sea lions has been prohibited in Australian waters for decades but it seems killing them in shark nets is another matter.  Fisheries managers have known about this problem for over a decade.  It’s time for State and Federal Governments to stop passing the buck and put some real protections in place” said Shen Dycer, Marine Campaigner for The Wilderness Society SA.

The Wilderness Society is calling for netting closures which eliminate any overlap between shark fishing with gillnets and the foraging grounds of female Australian Sea Lions.  They say anything less will result in continued population decline.

“We know that netting closures work.  The Australian Sea Lion colony at Dangerous Reef recovered dramatically following the introduction of gillnetting closures in Spencer Gulf in the year 2000” said Ms Dycer.
 
“If current levels of bycatch mortality continue, many of South Australia’s 48 Australian Sea Lion colonies will be driven to virtual extinction within the next few decades”.