#NorthernTerritory (NT) waters make up the last global stronghold for endangered #sawfish and one of the world's rarest shark species, the #RiverShark. Four of the world's five sawfish species and two of the world's five river shark species call NT waters home.
Right now, sawfish and river sharks are not protected from commercial #gillnets in their #CriticalHabitat along the coastlines of major river systems in the NT.
yet up to 1km of #gillnets can be used by a single commercial #barramundi fisher at the mouth of the Roper River every single day for eight months each year.
The NT Government's new plan to protect endangered sawfish and rare river sharks from the commercial #BarramundiFishery is fundamentally flawed. There was no opportunity for the public to have their say in their #protection, despite the NT Government's assurance otherwise.