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AnonymousInactiveSharks swim into political waters
They
are known affectionately as the “Labradors of the ocean”, but grey
nurse sharks are facing a fight for survival in Australia.It is
estimated there are fewer than 500 of these docile creatures left in
Australian waters. Most live off the east coast.Despite its fearsome
appearance, the grey nurse ( Carcharias taurus ) is not a
man-eater.Environmentalists have said their numbers continue to fall
despite the grey nurse shark being a protected species, which it has
been since 1984.Conservationists and scientists have held what they
have described as “crisis talks” in Sydney.Safe zones
They
are now threatening legal action to force the country’s political
leaders to do more.”The grey nurse shark situation is critical,” warned
Ian Cohen, a Green member of the New South Wales state
parliament.”We’re likely to see the demise of this species on the east
coast of Australia in the next 10 to 15 years. It is really a desperate
situation when we look at the continued threat through both
recreational and professional fishing practices,” he told the BBC.Mr
Cohen accuses the New South Wales state government of caring more about
retaining power than the environment.”Leading up to an election next
year [the government] has an eye on the voting power of the
recreational fishing lobby,” he said.There are 16 key grey nurse shark
habitats dotted along the coast of New South Wales, from the tourist
haven at Byron Bay south to the rugged beauty of Montague
Island.Wildlife campaigners want the authorities to establish a
1.5km-wide “sanctuary zone” around these critical aggregation sites.
They are demanding a complete ban on fishing, arguing that there would
be plenty of alternative areas to satisfy fishermen and women.Healthy waters
The
grey nurse is listed as an endangered species under Australian
law.Conservationists have insisted that the state and federal
governments have failed to fulfil their legal obligations.Nicola
Beynon, from Humane Society International, said protecting sensitive
habitats could not happen soon enough: “This is the time when we have a
chance of turning around the specie’s fortunes on the east coast and if
we don’t seize it now then extinction’s going to be inevitable.”It’s
not just a case of saving it for its own sake; we need to save sharks
for the role that they play in keeping the oceans healthy. In effect,
protecting the grey nurse shark is also beneficial to the fishing
industry because it keeps the ocean that they depend on healthy and
productive.”if environmentalists were hoping for a positive response
from the New South Wales government they have been disappointed.‘Dramatic’ impact
The
State Minister for Primary Industries, Ian Macdonald, accused his
critics of scare-mongering.”I think that they’re talking a lot of
nonsense and exaggerating the situation rather dramatically,” he told
Australian radio,The minister said he was considering introducing shark
sanctuaries at five grey nurse sites and that he was not fazed by the
threat of legal action.”Our view is we have the measures in place and
it would be a complete waste of money by the green groups to be running
off to the courts,” he said.”We are spending a lot of money on the
breeding programme. If we’re able to complete this successfully, it
will have a dramatic impact on the survival of the shark, not only in
Australia but overseas.”Australia’s federal government also said it was
doing all it could to protect this relatively placid and ragged-tooth
shark. -
AuthorOctober 10, 2006 at 11:09 AM
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