A new analysis of fisheries data by Greenpeace Australia has revealed that almost half a million blue sharks were caught by industrial longliners as bycatch in the Pacific Ocean in 2023, marking the highest recorded number in history since 1991.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific estimates that around 438,500 near-threatened blue sharks, almost 50 million kilogrammes – were caught as bycatch in the region in 2023 from Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission data. This figure is double the numbers recorded in 2015.

Georgia Whitaker, senior campaigner at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “The data is deeply disturbing – it’s a devastating record and a testament to the destructive nature of the industrial fishing industry. Sharks and other animals dying by the hundreds of thousands a year in this one patch of ocean, brutally killed by a legal and indiscriminate fishing practice like longlining.”

The blue shark is the most common bycatch in the region and the world, making up 80 to 90% of all shark catches across the WCPFC in the last nine years. Between Australia and New Zealand in the Tasman Sea region, blue sharks made up more than 90% of the shark bycatch from longline fishers.

“This is an appalling legacy our global leaders are leaving while the blue lungs of our planet are already facing chronic decline. Industrial fishing is sucking our ocean dry, fuelling the biodiversity crisis, and pushing prehistoric animals like sharks to the brink of extinction,” said Whitaker. “Healthy shark populations are central to a healthy ocean – this is a loss we can’t afford.”

Ahead of the United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice, France next month, Greenpeace Australia Pacific is calling on the Albanese government to ratify the Global Ocean Treaty in the first 100 days in government and protect the region. Australia signed the treaty in 2023 but is yet to bring it into force.

“There is no better time for Australia to be leaders in ocean protection on the world stage. Every day that passes without the treaty in force, animals are being pushed closer to the brink of extinction from industrial fisheries in the high seas,” Whitaker continued.

“The Global Ocean Treaty was a historic win, but we can’t rest now – we need Australia to ratify the treaty and propose ocean sanctuaries in the high seas between Australia and New Zealand to give our oceans and marine life a chance to rest, recover, and thrive.”

A recent report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) revealed one-third of sharks worldwide are endangered, and two-thirds of those endangered are at risk of extinction from overfishing. Blue Sharks are listed as Near Threatened and Largely Depleted by the IUCN.

The analysis also revealed the biologically significant area of the Lord Howe Rise and South Tasman Sea areas, between Australia and New Zealand, had some of the highest rates of birds as bycatch, with 13% of bycatch from longliners being seabirds like albatross.

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