Alexander Schmidt

Submission in response to discussion paper

Is the EPBC Act delivering what was intended in an efficient and effective manner?

No

Is the EPBC Act sufficient to address future challenges? Why?

No

What are the priority areas for reform?

1. The current EPBC Act needs to remove exceptions such as section 43B, that governments use to continue lethal shark control programs and support knee-jerk reactions which are entirely political in nature and unsupported by current science. 2. The EPBC Act should abide by the official IUCN classifications such as ?endangered? or ?critically endangered? and remove the EPBC category of ?Conservation Dependant,? which continues to allow fishing for endangered species such as the mako or scalloped hammerhead.
3. The EPBC Act should ban the imports of shark fin products and derivatives where the country of origin, fishing method and species are unknown or unclear. This is particularly important for migratory species, many of which move between multiple countries requiring everyone to work together to protect them.