Qld: Exports depleting shark numbers

AAP General News (Australia)
08-20-2008
Qld: Exports depleting shark numbers

BRISBANE, Aug 20 AAP - The federal government is under pressure to declare the Coral
Sea a safe haven for sharks as new figures show a rise in shark product exports.

WWF Australia said the latest data from the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service
shows more than 500 tonnes of shark product was sent to mostly Asian markets over the
past 13 months.

Head of WWF-Australia's oceans program Dr Gilly Llewellyn said 85 tonnes of shark product,
mostly shark fin and fillets, were sent from Brisbane to Hong Kong and the Philippines,
and shark cartilage exported to the US.

Dr Llewellyn said Melbourne supplied 37 tonnes of shark fins for the Philippines and
46 tonnes of shark liver oil, mostly to Japan.

She said a further 34 tonnes of squalene was sent from Melbourne while 60 tonnes of
shark fins were sent from Cairns.

"We risk going down in the history books as the generation that let sharks go extinct
because of an insatiable market for shark products," Dr Llewellyn said.

"Sharks play a crucial role in the balance and health of marine ecosystems and are
especially vulnerable to overfishing, and yet currently there are few effective controls
on fishing or trade."

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said today the state government was aware of the importance
of sharks to the ecosystem.

"There's no doubt that sharks are a very important part of our marine ecosystems, while
they're not necessarily popular, they are a important part of the food chain and we need
to make sure that their populations are maintained," Ms Bligh said.

Ms Bligh said she would welcome evidence of population decline of sharks in the Coral Sea.

"I'd like to see what the basis of the claims are, but where we are needing to act,
we will," she said.

AAP peb/pjo/cjh/bwl

KEYWORD: SHARK

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