Nick McKim (Tasmania, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I inform the chamber that Senators Bilyk, Urquhart, Brown and Polley will also sponsor this motion. I, and also on behalf of Senators Whish-Wilson, Bilyk, Urquhart, Brown and Polley, move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the Tasmanian smooth handfish (Sympterichthys unipennis) is the world's first marine bony fish to be declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature,

(ii) the remaining Tasmanian handfish are the most threatened marine fish in the world,

(iii) the 42 juvenile red handfish hatched and raised from eggs at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Seahorse World and released into the wild likely doubles the number of red handfish in remaining populations near Hobart,

(iv) the invasive long-spined sea urchin (Centrostephanus rogersii) is a key factor in the decline of handfish populations,

(v) the spread of the invasive long-spined sea urchin is threatening the biodiversity of Tasmanian reefs, and

(vi) urchin barrens are directly linked to warming waters along the east coast of Tasmania; and

(b) acknowledges and thanks:

(i) researchers at the IMAS,

(ii) researchers at the CSIRO, and

(iii) all scientists and researchers at the Handfish Conservation Project for their work on this critical conservation project.

Question agreed to.