The Greens are again calling on the Queensland government for an urgent review of the state\u2019s system of shark nets and drum lines, after a humpback whale was entangled in nets off Kings Beach on the Sunshine Coast this morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Senator Larissa Waters, Greens leader in the Senate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNets and drumlines are indiscriminate killers of protected wildlife, and the evidence shows non-lethal measures are more effective at protecting swimmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis morning a humpback whale was entangled in Queensland shark nets, the first of many likely to run afoul of these cruel devices with whale migration season now underway along Australia\u2019s East Coast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile the whale has been released, there\u2019s no guarantee it will survive, as the stress of getting tangled can use enormous energy that the whale needs to make its migration journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Queensland Government\u2019s Great Barrier Reef shark control program is more than 50 years old and has killed more than 85,000 marine animals including sharks, turtles and dolphins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cQueensland\u2019s shark control program is completely out of date and isn\u2019t in line with community expectations for protecting swimmers without harming marine life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere are plenty of non-lethal options that should be considered, including shark shield personal deterrent devices, shark spotter programs, eco-shark barriers and increased public education, and will do much more for people\u2019s safety, marine life and tourism.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Greens spokesperson for healthy oceans, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShark nets are not effective at removing the risk of shark bites to humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Solutions exist that modernise beach safety standards and don\u2019t harm wildlife, yet every year these outdated walls of death cause unacceptable pain and suffering to marine animals. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Queensland government says entrapments are \u2018very rare\u2019 but analysis by Humane Society International found 11 humpback whales were caught in Queensland nets last year alone, which is hardly a rare occurrence. Meanwhile dugongs, turtles and dolphins were among 722 animals that were either killed or found dead after being drowned in nets or hooked on the lethal drumlines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Federal government has an important role to play in protecting endangered marine life killed by lethal shark nets and drumlines deployed by the states. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe upcoming review of Australia\u2019s EPBC laws is an opportunity for the Labor government to remove existing exemptions to state controlled lethal shark net programs that risk federally protected species.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Greens are again calling on the Queensland government for an urgent review of the state\u2019s system of shark nets and drum lines, after a humpback whale was entangled in nets off Kings Beach on the Sunshine Coast this morning. Senator Larissa Waters, Greens leader in the Senate \u201cNets and drumlines are indiscriminate killers of … Continue reading “NETS OUT OF QUEENSLAND NOW”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27038","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27038"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27038\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27039,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27038\/revisions\/27039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}