Endangered sharks killed by drumlines off Magnetic Island

ENDANGERED sharks have been photographed dead, hanging off hooks by Queensland Government installed drumlines around Magnetic Island.

ENDANGERED sharks have been photographed dead, hanging off hooks by Queensland Government installed drumlines around Magnetic Island.

The Humane Society International and the Australian Marine Conservation Society today released images of two lifeless scalloped hammerhead sharks hooked on the drumlines.

“Lethal drumlines are an old and ineffective method of bather protection. They catch and kill hundreds of non-target marine animals in the Great Barrier Reef, as these new shocking images show,” Nicola Beynon, head of campaigns at Humane Society International said.

“Our sharks and our reef deserve so much better than this. Lethal drumlines provide nothing more than a completely false sense of security, at the expense of the lives of threatened species that are crucial to our Great Barrier Reef ecosystem.”

The scalloped hammerhead, which can grow up to 4.2m in length and is considered a potentially dangerous shark, is listed as endangered.

According to Queensland Shark Control Program statistics, more than 10,000 sharks have been caught on drumlines since 2001.

The Queensland Government said drumlines had been installed to provide human protection.

Humane Society International is currently engaged in legal action against the Queensland Government and the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority for its use of drumlines within the World Heritage-listed Great Barrier Reef.

Humane Society International’s case against the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and the Queensland Government will be heard in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal from January 30, 2019.

Originally published as Endangered sharks killed by drumlines off Magnetic Island