Environment Minister leaves endangered species on the menu
10 Nov 2006
Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell must act immediately to recognise the orange roughy as an endangered species, according to global conservation organisation WWF.
WWF is concerned that the Minister's decision yesterday to list the orange roughy as 'conservation dependant' only affords this deepwater fish minimal protection.
Yesterday's decision means the orange roughy can still be caught as 'incidental catch' and sold in the market.
The Minister's decision will leave orange roughy on menus and is likely to result in the extinction of the species.
"The Minister has chosen to ignore the independent advice of the Threatened Species Scientific Committee, which recommended that orange roughy be added to the threatened species list in the endangered category. He must reverse his decision to only list it as conservation dependant," said Dr Ghislaine Llewellyn, manager of WWF-Australia's Oceans program.
Orange roughy are extremely slow to mature, living for up to 150 years, making them highly vulnerable to over-exploitation.
The poor management of orange roughy has caused the collapse of orange roughy fisheries all around the world.
"In Australian waters most orange roughy fisheries are now setting zero catch levels due to serious levels of overfishing in the past," said Dr Llewellyn.
"The last stock take of Commonwealth managed fisheries showed 17 out of 74 species classified as overfished. It is clearly time to be listening to independent scientific advice and taking bold measures to help marine fisheries recover."
The Minister's decision on orange roughy has taken over three years. During this time thousands of tonnes of orange roughy have been caught in commercial fisheries, pushing the species further towards extinction.
Find out more
Charlie Stevens, Press Officer, WWF-Australia
Phone: 02 8202 1274
Mobile: 0424 649 689
Email: cstevens@wwf.org.au
Angela Heck, Press Office, WWF-Australia
Phone: 02 8202 1268
Mobile: 0421 053 023
Email: aheck@wwf.org.au
Dr Gilly Llewellyn, Oceans Program Leader, WWF-Australia
Mobile: 0406 380 801
Notes
- Download the report Managing risk and uncertainty in deep-sea fisheries: lessons from orange roughy (PDF 2.0 MB).
- Download the report Follow the Leader: Learning from experience and best practice in regional fisheries management organisations.
- For further information on the state of Commonwealth fisheries see the Bureau of Rural Sciences' (BRS) Fishery Status Report.
