Conservationists actually go to court over Grey Nurse Shark protection debate

Conservatonists claim that 10% of Grey Nurse Sharks still alive on the East coast of Australia have been killed by fishing in the last 5 years.

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The Nature Conservation Council of NSW (NCC) on Monday resumed legal action calling for 18 strict no-fishing zones to be introduced along the NSW coast, amid fears the shark could be wiped out.

The NCC wants the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to order the NSW Government to set up 18 sanctuaries in areas including Sydney's Maroubra beach, Montague Island off the south coast, and South West Rocks on the mid-north coast.

Failing to establish the no-take zones would condemn the NSW grey nurse shark population to extinction within a lifetime, the NCC says.

It also wants the tribunal to overturn a federal government decision made last June to allow a major commercial fishery to operate in grey nurse shark habitats in NSW waters.

The NCC said the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) had been asked by the tribunal to tender its records of how many grey nurse sharks had been killed by hooks, spears and nets in the past five years.

The DPI figure of 50 sharks killed in this way represented only an estimated quarter of all grey nurse shark deaths, the NCC said.

There are fewer than 500 of the sharks surviving off the east coast of Australia.

"It's incredibly concerning that 10 per cent of the shark population has been killed over the past five years," said NCC spokeswoman Megan Kessler.

"That's a massive impact that fishing is having that we hope this court case will change."

The tribunal also heard evidence how greater regulation of fishing gear, particularly hooks, used outside sanctuaries would help save the grey nurse shark.

Ms Kessler said if the NCC action failed it would be a death sentence for grey nurse sharks in the state's waters.

"If the current rate of decline continues, we know this population will become extinct within our lifetimes," Ms Kessler said.

"There is very good population modelling that shows if we don't stop the current rate of decline there will no longer be an effective breeding population in as little as 10 years."

The DPI declined to comment when contacted on Monday.

The hearing is expected to conclude on Wednesday.

source: AAP

Contributed by Tim Hochgrebe added 2007-06-05