Sharks used as tuna lures
The Daily Telegraph
November 24, 2010 12:00AM COMMERCIAL tuna fishermen have been accused of using whale sharks as giant lures to increase their catch. Whale sharks naturally attract schools of fish and Greenpeace has accused the industry of setting their nets around the gentle giants after it obtained photos showing a juvenile whale shark being hoisted off a boat. Whale sharks are listed as vulnerable to extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and are protected in a number of countries, including Australia. Next month the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission will debate banning the practice after research found boats were targeting whale sharks more often than reported. The commission found nets were being set around whale sharks 13 times more often than captains were reporting in their log books and that 60 of the 180 whale sharks caught in the giant purse seine nets had died. The Australian and New Zealand Governments have made a joint proposal seeking to extend the ban to all marine mammals. Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke said the practice of using the sharks as tuna lures was unacceptable. “Setting on these species by purse seine vessels is unacceptable to Australia,” Mr Burke said.
