Key Threatening Process Nomination Form

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It is therefore clear that this threat is adversely affecting this EPBC Act listed species, as it threatens the recovery of the species from its severe status of decline that resulted from years of being caught in trawling nets. The listing of ‘Fatal injury to marine mammals, reptiles, and other large marine species through boat strike on the Australian coast’ as a Key Threatening Process and development of a Threat Abatement Plan are essential to avoid the recovery of the species being compromised.
Leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea)
Australian conservation status:

^N^a^t^ioⁿ^al:^Lⁱ^s^ted^a^s^End^aⁿ^g^e^r^e^d^,^Mariⁿ^e^an^d^Migra^t^ory^spec^ie^s^und^e^r^t^h^e^En^vi^r^onmen^t^P^r^o^t^ec^ti^oⁿ^aⁿ^d^Bi^od^iver^s^ity

Conservation Act, 1999.

New South Wales: Listed as Endangered under the Threatened Species Conservation Act, 1995.

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Queensland: Listed as Endangered under the Nature Conservation Act, 1992. South Australia: Listed as Vulnerable under National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1972. Tasmania: Listed as Vulnerable under Threatened Species Protection Act, 1995. Victoria: Listed as Threatened under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, 1988.

Western Australia: Listed as Rare or likely to become extinct under the Wildlife Conservation Act, 1950
International conservation status:

- Listed on Appendix I of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES).

- Listed as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources

(IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species.

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Boat strike is relatively (when compared to green and loggerhead turtles) uncommon for leatherback turtles, with data from the Queensland Department of Environment and Resource Management’s Stranding and Mortality Database Annual Reports listing just one instance of leatherback boat strike mortality between 1999-2004 (Table 7). However,
this low figure for boat strike for this species reflects its rarity in Australia, and it should be noted that only four mortalities from any cause were recorded in the databases – boat strike effectively being the cause of 25% of known cause mortality. Although this number appears very low, to a population reported to be in danger of extinction within less than 10 years (Science Daily, 2004) it is still a dangerous number of unnecessary deaths which, as was the case with previously mentioned species, is likely highly understated due to unreported or undetected incidents.
Table 7: Records of reported leatherback turtle mortalities in Queensland waters from 1998-2002 showing the percentage of confirmed mortalities attributed to boat strike

Year	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	Total
Total confirmed mortality	1	1	0	0	1	1	4
Natural causes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Anthropogenic	1	1	0	0	1	1	4
Boat Strike	0	0	0	0	1	0	1
% anthro. boatstrike	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	100.0*	0.0	25.0

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Other species affected by boat strike which may not meet EPBC Act criteria

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Process due to limited data being accessible to the nominator, they are included here in an attempt to provide a more complete picture of the impact of boat strike on marine wildlife.

Humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae)
Australian conservation status:

^N^a^t^ioⁿ^al:^Lⁱ^s^ted^a^s^V^u^lⁿ^e^ra^b^l^e^,^C^e^t^a^c^e^an^aⁿ^d^Migra^t^ory^sp^e^ci^e^s^und^e^r^t^h^e^En^vi^r^onmen^t^P^ro^t^ec^ti^oⁿ^aⁿ^d^Bi^od^iver^s^ity

Conservation Act, 1999.

New South Wales: Listed as Vulnerable under the Threatened Species Conservation Act, 1995. Queensland: Listed as Vulnerable under the Nature Conservation (Wildlife) Regulation, 2006. South Australia: Listed as Vulnerable under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1972. Tasmania: Listed as Endangered under the Threatened Species Protection Act, 1995.

Victoria: Listed as Threatened under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act, 1988.

Western Australia: Listed as Rare or likely to become extinct under the Wildlife Conservation Act, 1950

International conservation status:

- Listed on Appendix I of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES).

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It is likely that many ship strikes on whale species go undetected or unreported as they may occur in remote areas, the impact may not be detected, animals may be struck and passed over without being observed, or struck whales may drift out to sea, thus the actual number of strikes is undoubtedly greater than confirmed data shows (Jensen & Silber, 2004). According to Jensen & Silber (2004), humpback whales are the second most impacted upon whale species by boat strike throughout the world (with finback whales having the highest boat strike mortality count), with 44 being recorded as boat strike mortalities from the earliest record in 1885 up to 2002, with entries being highly varied chronilogically throughout that range.
As a characteristically coastal species of whale (Jensen & Silber, 2004), humpbacks are likely at greater risk of boat strike in areas of higher boat use than other migratory Australian species. In Australia, there is an east and a west coast population of migratory humpback whales that are considered to be genetically distinct (Baker et al., 1998), and there are records of humpback whales that have been found stranded and killed in Queensland (Greenland et al., 2005). Although confirmed cases with cause attributed to boatstrike are few and far between, to a small population of long- lived and large animals this still represents a threat. Furthermore, boat strikes on humpback whales are likely to increase if the humpback population continues to recover on the east coast and as boat traffic increases.
Whale shark (Rhincodon typus)
Australian conservation status:

National: Listed as Vulnerable and Migratory species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation

^A^c^t,^1999.

South Australia: Listed as Vulnerable under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1972.

Tasmania: Listed on the Fisheries (General and Fees) Regulations, 2006 under the Living Marine Resources Management

Act, 1995.

^We^s^t^e^rn^A^u^s^tr^a^lia:^Lⁱ^s^ted^a^s^a^t^o^t^a^lly^p^r^o^tect^e^d^fi^s^h^und^e^r^t^h^e^C^on^s^e^r^v^a^ti^oⁿ^an^d^Lan^d^M^anagemen^t^A^c^t^,¹⁹⁸⁴^aⁿ^d^th^e
Fish Resources Management Act, 1994.
International conservation status:

- Listed on Appendix II of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES).

- Listed as Vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red

List of Threatened Species.

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- Listed on Annex I (Highly Migratory Species) of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Rodger et al. (2010) states that whale sharks are vulnerable to boat strikes, with individuals observed to actively approach boats, possibly being attracted to bubbles created by idling engines. Stevens (2007) goes as far as saying that whale shark mortality related to human activity (other than fishing) occurs mainly through boat strikes.
Whale sharks spend a lot of time close to the surface, resulting in an increased chance of incidences of boat strikes, evidenced by a typical scarring pattern on the animals (Norman, 1999; Mau, 2006; Stevens, 2007). The incidence of fin damage and scarring on whale sharks observed during ecotourism activities, so common that such markings are used along with natural colouration to identify whale sharks through computer algorithms (Arzoumanian et al., 2005), suggests that non-fatal collisions, probably with smaller vessels, are not uncommon (Stevens, 2007). It is thought this may have further adverse impacts on the species, by resulting in whale sharks showing a higher level of boat avoidance behaviours, including the avoidance of areas which may be critical habitats (Mau, 2006).
According to Stevens (2007), Gudger (1940) documented many instances of collisions between whale sharks and large vessels and there have been several reports of whale sharks impaled on the bows of steamships earlier this century (Stead, 1963). With regard to modern shipping, large vessels are probably not aware of striking whale sharks, leading to the extent of such mortality to be unknown (Norman, 1999). The rarity of beached whale shark specimens, which would allow increased analysis of whale shark mortality and cause of mortality in Australian waters, suggest that R. typus tends to sink rapidly after death (Tubb, 1948).

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pages -> Marine bioregional plan for the North Marine Region prepared under the
files -> Key Threatening Process Nomination Form
pages -> List of cites species for the Purposes of the Act as amended
pages -> Offshore pelagic shark and teleost surveys Objectives
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