Environmental law reform needed to protect endangered marine species in Australia’s waters, say researchers

University of Queensland researchers are calling for reforms to Australia’s environmental laws, as threatened fish species continue to be legally exported.

Their work has identified four species that have been listed under Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act and legally exported from Australia: the orange roughy, blue warehou, school shark and southern bluefin tuna. The research is published in npj Ocean Sustainability.

Despite being listed as threatened under Australia’s under-review EPBC Act, UQ Ph.D. candidate Rosa Mar Dominguez-Martinez said these fish continue to be exported.

“Since the inception of the Act, 107 kilotons, or 10% of all Australian seafood exports, have been of these four listed threatened species,” Ms. Dominguez-Martinez said.

“You might think that there are plenty more fish in the sea, but these species are in real danger.

“In fact, Australia’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee—the expert group responsible for providing listing advice and recovery strategies—found that all of these species were eligible for listing in higher threat categories: Critically Endangered for the blue warehou and southern bluefin tuna, or Endangered for the school shark and orange roughy.

The researchers reveal that this occurs due to a loophole within the legislation.

“Currently, the EPBC Act includes a category unique to Australia called ‘Conservation Dependent,’ which only applies to marine fish species, as terrestrial species cannot be listed under this category,” Ms. Dominguez-Martinez said.

“There are eight species listed as ‘Conservation Dependent’ and all are caught in commercial fisheries. All of these species are required to have a legally enforced management plan aimed at stopping their decline—however, with the exception of the southern bluefin tuna, their conservation status has not improved, and they remain overfished, or are unassessed in Australia.

“This classification effectively exempts these species from the stricter regulations that would apply if they were listed under standard threat categories, such as Vulnerable, Endangered, or Critically Endangered.

“While other native species listed as threatened under the EPBC Act require a special permit for export, Conservation Dependent species are exempt from this requirement.

“So—while the EPBC Act currently undergoes federal review—we’re calling for Australia’s new legislation to treat commercially harvested threatened species the same as other threatened species.”

Senior author Associate Professor Carissa Klein said the team also recommend two other significant changes, which would better protect Australia’s threatened marine species.

“Australia’s new environmental protection legislation must also mandate regular review of the conservation status of all threatened species,” Dr. Klein said.

“If more regular reviews were done, species like the southern bluefin tuna—which is not currently assessed as overfished—would be de-listed from the EPBC Act more swiftly.

“And species acknowledged as threatened under international listings, such as the IUCN Red List or through global conventions, should be assessed in Australia’s new threatened species legislation.

“These recommendations are essential to prevent further extinctions in Australian waters.”