Your chance to save sawfish & river sharks from extinction

The rivers and coasts of northern Australia are the world’s last stronghold for sawfish and river sharks. They’re some of the world’s most endangered and rarest fishes, and they need our help.

Let’s add our voice and save our threatened sharks and rays.

The Hon.

Tanya

Plibersek

Minister for Environment

Dear Minister,

I am deeply concerned about the plight of sawfish and river sharks across northern Australia. Australia is the last global stronghold for these species. Sawfish in particular have already lost half of their global range[1].

Four of the world’s five sawfish (largetooth/freshwater, green, dwarf, narrow) and two of the world’s three river sharks (northern river, speartooth) call Australia home. All are threatened with extinction in Australian waters[2];
· Critically Endangered: largetooth/freshwater and green sawfish
· Endangered: dwarf sawfish
· Vulnerable: narrow sawfish, northern river shark, speartooth shark

Gillnet fishing is the primary threat to sawfish and river sharks across northern Australia. The major rivers and coastal waters are critical for their reproduction and survival. In particular, the Northern Territory-managed Barramundi Fishery (BF), and both the Queensland-managed Gulf of Carpentaria (GOCIF) and East Coast Inshore Fisheries (ECIF) are failing to both protect these animals from extinction and support their recovery.

I ask you to ensure the protection of these species by placing the following rules in fisheries that interact with sawfish and river sharks:
· Cameras on boats to independently monitor fishing so we know what is caught, how many and where.
· ‘Fins On’ rule (fins naturally attached) to prevent illegal finning and stopping protected species entering the trade.
· Protection of critical habitats from commercial gillnet fishing
· Implementing fisher training for world-best catch handling practices so that animals can be safely released alive and healthy.

Sawfish risk having their ‘saws’ (rostrums) cut off so fishers can release them from nets, only to die slowly from blood loss and starvation over the course of weeks and months[3]. River sharks can become entangled in the invisible gillnets and drown. The absence of a ‘fins on‘ rule in the GOCIF and BF risks sawfish and river sharks having their fins illegally cut off and bodies dumped, so that they can be mixed in with other shark fins that are legally traded.

Recent estimates indicate that there could be as few as 2,500 adults of each of the northern river and speartooth sharks across Australia2. Since the 1980’s the speartooth shark has disappeared from several rivers in northern and east coasts of Queensland. Sawfish have been almost wiped out on the east coast - the green sawfish is presumed extinct in New South Wales, the last one seen in 1972[4].

I request that you address the very grave threats facing the survival of sawfish and river sharks across northern Australia, in recognition of their importance for Australia and the world.

Additional Comments


 
[1] Yan, HF et al (2021) “Overfishing and Habitat Loss Drive Range Contraction of Iconic Marine Fishes to near Extinction.” Science Advances 7, no. 7:eabb6026. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abb6026.
[2] Kyne, P.M., Michelle R. Heupel, William T. White, and Colin A. Simpfendorfer. “The Action Plan for Australian Sharks and Rays 2021.” Report. Hobart: NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub, 2021.
[3] Morgan, D et al (2016) “What Is the Fate of Amputee Sawfish?” Fisheries 41, no. 2: 57–108. https://doi.org/10.1080/03632415.2016.1145527.
[4] NSW DPI https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/threatened-species/what-current/extinct/green-sawfsh


Yours sincerely,

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Image: Peter Kyne