Australia New Marine Reserve protecting Sharks

Australia New Marine Reserve protecting Sharks



May 2007 -   Habitat for a harmless shark 
that is one of Australia’s most threatened marine species was protected 
today by a new marine reserve in Commonwealth waters off Australia's east 
coast.
 
The Australian government announced the creation of a 300 hectare reserve 
to protect grey nurse sharks at the Cod Grounds, a key aggregation site 
about four miles off the New South Wales coast, near Port Macquarie. 
The Cod Grounds Commonwealth Marine Reserve will come into effect on May 
28, said the Department of Environment and Water Resources, DEWR, in a 
statement. 

Historically, due to their fierce appearance and being mistaken for other 
sharks that pose a danger to humans, large numbers of grey nurse sharks 
were killed by recreational spear and line fishers and in shark control 
programs, particularly in southeastern Australia. 
The greatest threat to the grey nurse shark is from fishing and accidental 
hooking, and shark finning. Despite legislation prohibiting their capture, 
there are now fewer than 500 individuals on the east coast and the 
population size continues to decrease. 
The decline of grey nurse shark numbers has been recognized by the IUCN, 
which has listed the species as globally vulnerable. 
The Cod Grounds Commonwealth Marine Reserve has been declared as a strict 
nature reserve, and will be managed to ensure the undersea ecosystem and 
native species are protected. All commercial and recreational fishing will 
be prohibited in the reserve. 
The DEWR has made arrangements with the New South Wales Department of 
Primary Industries to carry out compliance and enforcement activities 
within the reserve. 
The Australian government is in the process of buying out the licenses of 
several commercial fishermen who have a history of fishing at the Cod 
Grounds. Adjustment assistance will also be considered for fishing 
cooperatives impacted by the buyout. 
After a five year long campaign for protection of this shark species, the 
Humane Society International, HSI, is pleased with the new reserve but 
says there are 23 other grey nurse shark aggregation sites that also need 
protection. 
HSI Program Manager Rebecca Keeble said, "While today’s announcement by 
the federal government is welcomed, a further 18 key grey nurse shark 
aggregation sites exist in NSW State waters, and four in Queensland 
waters," said Keeble. 
"Although some of these are listed under state legislation as critical 
habitat sites, the vast majority offer inadequate protection to grey nurse 
shark aggregations, with sanctuary zones that are too small, and 
line-fishing allowed in adjacent areas," Keeble said. 
"While all forms of fishing are banned within the Cod Grounds Commonwealth 
Marine Reserve, it really only effectively protects a 1,000 meter radius 
of grey nurse shark habitat, and we know that this needs to be increased 
to 1,500 meter to fully protect their aggregation," said Keeble. 
Grey nurse sharks are often hooked by fishermen although they are not a 
target species. 
"A clear commitment to protecting this species needs to be made by 
establishing 1,500 meter no-take sanctuary zones at all grey nurse shark 
critical habitat sites," she said. 
The grey nurse shark, Carcharias taurus, is one of only three fish species 
listed as Critically Endangered under the federal Environment Protection 
and Biodiversity Conservation Act, EPBC, 1999. 
The species has been recognized as a threatened species under 
Commonwealth, New South Wales and Queensland legislation as the direct 
result of HSI nominations, Keeble said. 
The Cod Grounds was recognized in 2002 as a critical habitat for grey 
nurse sharks in the federal government’s Recovery Plan for the species but 
was not protected until today. 
"The grey nurse shark plays an important role as a predator in coastal 
reef systems," said former Australian Environment Minister Dr. David Kemp 
in 2003. "Ecologically, sharks may play a crucial role in removing weak 
and unhealthy fish from natural stocks, thereby ensuring the genetic 
health of the ecosystem." 
"Because the grey nurse shark is in such low numbers," Kemp said, "it is 
important that the population is restored to levels where it can fulfil 
its role in maintaining the natural balance in the ecosystem." 
HSI is urging the NSW Environment Minister, Bob Debus; the Queensland 
Environment Minister Lindel Nelson-Carr; and, the Federal Minister for 
Environment and Water Resources, Malcolm Turnbull to protect all 24 
identified grey nurse shark critical habitat sites "as a matter of 
urgency," by gazetting them as strict no-take marine reserves and listing 
them on the federal Register of Critical Habitat under the EPBC Act. 
The NSW Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales has taken the issue 
of grey nurse shark protection to the courts. The group is appealing 
against the Australian government's environmental approval for the Ocean 
Trap and Line Fishery – a commercial fishery that is known to impact on 
the grey nurse shark. 
The Nature Conservation Council is asking the Administrative Appeals 
Tribunal to mandate marine sanctuaries and fishing gear changes to reduce 
the impact of hook and line fishing on grey nurse sharks. 
"Grey nurse sharks are known as the Labradors of the Sea. They are a 
harmless shark that has never been responsible for a human death," says 
the Nature Conservation Council. 
There has been some action on the local level. The species' inability to 
recover from the mass decline in numbers since the 1960s at the hands of 
spearfishers, recreational and commercial fishers, last year prompted the 
NSW Fisheries Scientific Committee to propose the uplisting of this 
species to Critically Endangered under the Fisheries Management Act 1994. 
Details of management arrangements for the new Cod Grounds Commonwealth 
Marine Reserve reserve, as well as maps and grid references, are available 
on the Department of the Environment and Water Resources website at: 
www.environment.gov.au/coasts/mpa/cod-grounds/index.html    

       
      

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