Yesterday, another baby Humpback was caught in gillnets! This time in Shelly Beach off the central coast of NSW. [1] Luckily, with the help of quick acting rescue crews from Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia (ORRCA), it escaped and was safely returned to its mother.
This comes just weeks after NSW Premier Mike Baird announced he will launch a trial of these lethal nets along northern NSW beaches. Evidence shows that gillnets don’t make people safer. But they do indiscriminately kill whales, turtles, rays and many more harmless victims. So why is Baird pursuing this ineffective and destructive plan?
Tell the Federal Environment Minister to reject Baird’s plan for nets on NSW beaches.
Last year, our movement helped convince Baird not to put gillnets in northern NSW - but two weeks ago, that all changed. Baird backflipped - announcing a trial of these lethal nets, starting as soon as next month.
We all love the beach. And safety always comes first. But instead of choosing a scientific, evidence-based solution that actually protects people and sealife, Mike Baird is letting his opponents in parliament push him to make a decision based on fear, not fact.
TAKE ACTION
Things are already moving fast: a letter obtained by Senator Peter Whish-Wilson reveals that Baird is planning to ask for permission to bypass federal environment laws to get the nets in the water. [2] Why? Introducing gillnets will result in the cull of a federally-protected species - the critically endangered grey nurse shark. [3]
A huge outcry stopped these nets last year, so together we can stop them again. If the Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg feels enough pressure, he could stop Mike Baird’s plan to bypass federal environment laws - and stop the nets. Can you send an urgent email to Josh Frydenberg now? We’ve made it quick and easy.
Sharks can swim above and around the nets - almost half of the sharks that are caught are on the beach side, trying to swim out to sea. [4] And experts say that there is “very little evidence” they prevent incidents. [5] A government review found that “the annual rate of attack was the same both before and after meshing commenced”. [4]
And that’s not all - animals like turtles, dolphins and rays accounted for 77% of the marine life caught in nets during 2014. [6] The vast majority of them died.
With your help, we can stop this dead in its tracks,
Alix, Sam, Nic and the team at Greenpeace Australia Pacific
PS: The President from the rescue crews at ORRCA has said gillnets are "false security" against shark attacks that create “carnage” for wildlife.
"Sharks are only a minor number of what actually gets caught. We get penguins, we get dugongs, we get seals, whales, dolphins, turtles. We know sharks go either side of the nets ... they're really not effective at all.” [1]
[1] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-01/whale-calf-caught-in-shark-net-off-nsw-central-coast/7982760
[2]http://peter-whish-wilson.greensmps.org.au/sites/default/files/shark%20net%20letters_0.pdf
[3] https://www.environment.gov.au/marine/marine-species/sharks/greynurse
[4] http://www.fish.wa.gov.au/Documents/occasional_publications/fop108.pdf
[5] http://www.sealifetrust.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Shark-Nets-Dont-Work-Southern-Courier.pdf
[6] http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/571750/shark-meshing-bather-protection-program-2014-15-annual-performance-report.pdf
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