Migrating oceanic sharks less protected than ever!

Populations of sharks are declining worldwide. Sharks continue to be at risk internationally from over-fishing, illegal trade (e.g. shark fins), habitat degradation, incidental bycatch as well as emerging threats such as climate change.

Small mako shark. Photo: Fiona Ayerst, Marine Photobank

Migrating oceanic sharks, like the porbeagle (Lamna nasus), shortfin (Isurus oxyrinchus) and longfin (I. paucus) mako, are no exception as all of these species are considered to have undergone substantial declines globally.  Collectively, these wide ranging species are found throughout all Australian waters.  Their biology - including low reproductive capacity, longevity (the porbeagle is thought to live to 65 years) and interaction with fisheries (targeted and bycatch) - make them susceptible to over-fishing and population decline.

Protection

With such a poor conservation status, Australia supported the inclusion of these three shark species in an international conservation agreement (the Convention on Migratory Species) in 2008. Once listed as internationally vulnerable on the IUCN red list, it became a mandatory requirement for Australia to protect these migratory species in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). This listing now prohibits these sharks from being taken dead or alive (EPBC Act, Part 13) and prohibits any activity that would significantly impact the species (EPBC Act, Part 3).

Or Perhaps Not…

Despite supporting these listings and the Australian Government’s commitment to international shark protection and conservation, Environment Minister Peter Garrett suddenly changed his mind.  In late January 2010, Minister Garrett announced that the Government would move to introduce legislation to ensure international changes to the status of mako sharks would not affect recreational fishing activities in Australia. Recreational fishing and charter boat operators from Torquay and around Port Phillip Bay, Victoria had claimed the ban would destroy a local industry worth $150 million a year.

Sustainable Australian Fisheries?

Minister Garrett said that the international decision was driven primarily by concern about northern hemisphere populations of these sharks.  He also said there was a lack of evidence to suggest that Australian populations of these shark species faced the same threats as other parts of the world.  Yet, recent reports indicate that mako catch rates in the Western Central Pacific have been steadily declining. In Australian waters, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority has also identified one mako species as potentially at high risk from fishing.

Mr Garrett’s decision is at odds with Federal Government policy stating that Australia manages its fisheries using the precautionary principle.

Reneging on International Obligations

These changes to the EPBC Act, however, have much broader consequences for conservation of marine species as well as Australia’s international standing in marine conservation. These changes to the EPBC Act could put other migratory species at risk as they pass through Australia’s territory.  Also, these changes mean that Australia is reneging on its international legal obligations to marine conservation.

If Australia doesn’t protect internationally endangered sharks in its own waters, our government is sinking below international standards in shark conservation. This is extremely disappointing at a time when sharks, the most ancient creatures on earth evolving 200 million years before the dinosaurs, are closer to extinction than ever before.