Great Barrier Reef World Heritage shark campaign: Our campaign aims to stop unsustainable shark fishing in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. To achieve this aim we must significantly change the way that fishing occurs on the Great Barrier Reef. We must also encourage seafood retailers to not sell sharks taken from the Reef.
The campaign so far…
During 2008-09, the Australian Marine Conservation Society worked with the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries to find ways to reduce, and eventually stop shark fishing in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage by the Queensland East Coast Inshore Finfish Fishery. As a major killer of sharks, this commercial and recreational line and net fishery is at the heart of our World Heritage Shark Campaign. In recent years the Inshore Finfish Fishery killed between 900t and 1400t of shark per year (between 112,000 and 175,000 individual sharks in total). The fishery also kills dugongs and turtles and poses a threat to the rare Indo-pacific humpback dolphin and threatened sawfish, which are related to sharks and rays and live in Queensland’s coastal bays and rivers.
In September 2008, AMCS secured a commitment from the Federal Environment Minister, Hon Peter Garrett, MP, to establish an independent review panel to review the sustainability of this fishery.
In March 2009, the outcomes of this review were made public. In brief, the review recommended that the Queensland Government in the short term, reduce shark fishing by one third, or 300t, and reform the Inshore Finfish Fishery into a more modern and sustainable fishery. While this makes significant progress for our World Heritage Sharks, there is still much more to be done to protect our precious sharks on the Great Barrier Reef and elsewhere around our coastline. Read the latest campaign update here.