Saving our uniquely Aussie sharks & rays

True-blue Aussie sharks and rays, found nowhere else in the world, are silently battling extinction and we’re at risk of losing them before we get to know them.

Without any action, species like the Critically Endangered whitefin swellshark are still legally harvested and sold for consumption. An average of 1,390 to 2,790 individuals are harvested each year.

These uniquely Aussie sharks and rays desperately need your help. Sign the petition below and urge the Australian Environment Minister The Hin Tanya Plibersek to overhaul our most destructive fisheries by including strong, time-bound rules that;

Protect threatened endemic species as ‘no take’ species under law.
Improve Bycatch Reduction Devices (‘escape hatches’) to minimise their catch in the first place.
Quantify and report to species level what sharks and rays are caught and discarded.
Regular observer programs, including 100% electronic monitoring (i.e. cameras) on all vessels.
Training fishers to safely handle sharks and rays to maximise the animal’s survival when released.

The letter below will be sent to Hon Sussan Ley MP, Minister for the Environment

The Hon.

Tanya

Plibersek

Minister for Environment

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Dear Minister Ley,

I’m contacting you as an Australian concerned about the impact that commercial fishing is having on our unique, endemic Australian sharks and rays (elasmobranchs).

Overfishing by Australia’s commercial fisheries, particularly in southeastern waters of Australia, is responsible for the ongoing decline of several of our endemic elasmobranchs.

I am alarmed that the critically endangered whitefin swellshark and critically endangered Australian longnose skate are still legally fished for their meat at respective minimum averages of 1,390* and 1,820^º individuals each year (1). In addition, Eastern angelsharks, despite their ongoing decline and an estimated loss of 60% of their population, are also routinely fished for their meat (1). Neither animal has fishing rules in place to protect them, and all three are recommended by Australia’s leading shark scientists for priority listing under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (2). 

Furthermore, it is nearly impossible to determine at what rate endemic elasmobranchs are being driven to extinction because reported catch data is generally poor across Australian fisheries. Often they aren't reported to species-level, and in several fisheries discard reporting is entirely absent.

Your decision to revoke the export license of Queensland’s East Coast Finfish Fishery in 2020 resulted in fishery reforms that laid the foundations for better protection of threatened wildlife in the Great Barrier Reef. I thank you for this leadership, and encourage you to act to reduce the impact of commercial fishing across all Australian waters.

Throughout 2021 and early 2022, a number of Australia’s most damaging fisheries, including its largest, are applying to be accredited as Wildlife Trade Operations (WTO). Collectively these fisheries are responsible for southeastern Australian waters being recognised as an ‘extinction-risk hotspot’ for the world’s most unique - and our endemic - elasmobranchs (2,3).

Overhauling and implementing urgently needed conditions across trawl, net and trap & line fisheries managed by the Commonwealth, Queensland, New South Wales would significantly improve the future of our endemic elasmobranchs and the health of tens of thousands of square kilometres of our oceans.

I ask you to carefully consider the accreditation of these fisheries, and urge you to apply the following principles and conditions if you accredit them:
- Protect threatened endemic elasmobranchs as ‘no take’ species under law.
- Improvement of bycatch reduction devices (BRDs) to minimise the catch of endemic elasmobranchs.
- Quantifying and reporting to species-level what elasmobranchs are caught and discarded.
- Regular observer programs, including 100% electronic monitoring (i.e. cameras) on all vessels.
- Training fishers to safely handle sharks and rays to maximise the animal’s survival when released.

Improving the environmental performance in these fisheries would be a game changer not just for our uniquely Australian sharks and rays, but to all of Australia’s ocean wildlife.

Sincerely, 



Sources: 
(1) R. Daley, C. Gray, On-the-water management solutions to halt the decline and support the recovery of Australia’s endemic elasmobranchs. (WildFish Research Consultancy & Horizon Consultancy. Self published, Australia, 2020).
(2) Kyne, Peter M., Michelle R. Heupel, W. T. White, and Colin Simpfendorfer. The Action Plan for Australian Sharks  and Rays 2021. Hobart: National Environmental Science Programme (NESP), Marine Biodiversity Hub, 2021.
(3) M. R. Heupel, P. M. Kyne, W. T. White, C. A. Simpfendorfer, “Shark Action Plan Policy Report” (report, NESP Marine Biodiversity Hub, 2019), (available at http://epubs.aims.gov.au//handle/11068/15377).

* Conversions of retained whole weight to individuals is based on conservatinve estimate of 4kg per shark.

^Includes ‘mixed skates’ logbook category.

ºConversions of retained whole weight to individuals is based on conservative estimate of 3.4kg per skate by doubling the average weight of the similar-sized Maugean skate reported in  Morash AJ, Lyle JM, Currie S, Bell JD, Stehfest KM, Semmens JM (2020) ‘The endemic and endangered Maugean Skate (Zearaja maugeana) exhibits short-term severe hypoxia tolerance’ Conservation Physiology 8


Please be respectful and refrain from personal attacks or derogatory language in your submission.

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