The Nature Coast Marine Group has arranged for officers from NSW Fisheries studying the grey nurse shark to present an update on the sharks’ status and ecology at a public meeting, to be held at 7pm on Wednesday 20 September, at the Moruya Golf Club.
Peter Gallagher, Senior Manager, and Justin Gilligan, from Fisheries’ Threatened Species Unit will present information on current scientific research, tracking, numbers, aggregation sites, feeding patterns, migration habits, reproduction, threats from fishers and divers, conservation needs and other issues relating to the grey nurse.
A spokesman for the NCMG, Andrew Green, said that the meeting is timely, given recent conflicting reports in the media about the grey nurse, and its iconic status in marine conservation.
“The grey nurse is a highly visible symbol of the damage that is being done to the marine environment,” he said. “But the real issue is that we don’t know what else we are losing.”
“Sanctuary zones in marine parks provide an opportunity to conserve whole systems, which species-specific fisheries management can never do,” Mr Green said.
“While some of the proposed sanctuary zones in the Batemans Marine Park are designed to protect the grey nurse, it is even more important to remember that individual species do not exist in isolation, and their complex interactions are only just beginning to be uncovered,” he said.
“To lose the grey nurse in NSW, when a modest effort could save it, would show that we really don’t care about the marine environment.”
Mr Green urged all interested members of the public to attend the meeting.