Fishermen Fear Shark Finning Ban

October 21, 2009

Release from: ABC News (Australia)

Conservation groups are stepping up their campaign to have shark finning banned in Queensland.

Commercial fishermen in Queensland can sell the fins of the sharks they catch, so long as they bring the carcass back to land.

The fins are exported to Asian countries.

Ben Birt, from the Australian Marine Conservation Society, says the Queensland Government should ban the practice while it reviews the Gulf of Carpentaria fishery.

"We feel that shark fishing as it's managed in the Gulf of Carpentaria has not been demonstrated to be sustainable," he says.

"Our hope is to influence the State Government to seriously curtail shark fishing in the short term, and eventually put a stop to it."

But Queensland shark fishermen aren't impressed, saying they are already heavily regulated and that many Australian families eat shark meat because it's affordable.