Scott Ryan (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australia strongly supports the MOU on the conservation of migratory sharks under the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species and was the 14th country to sign. Australia has some of the best protections in the world for sharks for sustainable fisheries under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act. Our domestic protections go well beyond what is required under the convention. We have also committed $23.9 million to establish the Marine Biodiversity Hub under the National Environmental Science Program. A significant focus of this hub is research into shark species. In 2015, Australia entered a reservation to the convention for the listing of five shark species because, without it, recreational fishers would have been liable for large fines even if they accidentally caught one of the sharks. The reservation has no effect on the protection of these shark species in Australia.