An environmental lobby group says gillnets are killing endangered species in numbers "far greater" than what is reported, calling for a ban on the fishing practice in Great Barrier Reef waters.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society (AMCS) has released dozens of images, taken over 12 years, showing dead dugongs, narrow sawfish and green turtles washed up on a small stretch of Great Barrier Reef beach at Wunjunga – a tiny community in the Burdekin Shire, south of Townsville – after reportedly becoming caught in gillnets.
Wunjunga resident Wayne Christensen said gillnet fishing had taken place in the area before the animals were found.
"Within one or two days [after], sometimes three, you start to get dead animals on the beach," Mr Christensen said.
"What I've taken photos of is only a small majority, I reckon that'd be 10 per cent."
"A turtle can survive two to four minutes in a net.
"It's a Dugong Protection Area here but you can still net … I don't know where the logic is."
Gillnets are long rectangular nets used to catch fish such as barramundi, threadfin and grey mackerel in the moving tide.
AMCS fisheries campaign manager Simon Miller said the images show a "really concerning" and unacceptable level of by-catch.
"Gillnets are indiscriminate killers which can capture and drown iconic threatened species like dugongs in minutes," Mr Miller said.
"We should be expecting fishing on the reef to be held to the highest possible standard but these photos show the reality is far from it."
Mr Miller said a ban of gillnets in Great Barrier Reef waters, as recommended by UNESCO in a recent report, is urgently needed to prevent population declines.
"As these species suffer threats form climate change, water pollution and the loss of sea grass, there's all these compounding threats," he said.
"The problem now is when you add turtle and dugong by-catch on top of that, you're seeing declines in populations of some species on the Great Barrier Reef.
"These species are really slow to mature and breed so in some cases, the loss of even a few adults can set the population back decades."
AMCS has also released images of dismembered endangered green turtles, which are missing their flippers or heads.
Mr Miller said this suggests fishers may be illegally mutilating endangered species to attract sharks to devour the carcasses.
A Fisheries Queensland spokesperson said the Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol (QBFP) had not received any complaints about fishers dumping corpses overboard in the Wunjunga area.
The spokesperson said QBFP had received two complaints about animals being entangled resulting from commercial fishing in the Wunjunga area since 2011.
No other option
Queensland Seafood Industry Association (QSIA) chief executive David Bobbermen said gillnets were "scarcely used" across the reef.
"The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park has over 400,000 square kilometres in it and there's only 100-odd commercial fishermen that operate in that space," Mr Bobbermen said.
"Gillnets are very scarcely used … they operate within the marine park as required by legislation from the Queensland government.
"Fishermen don't have any option but to use gillnets at the moment, you cannot catch some species of fish for commercial purposes [without gillnets]."
Mr Bobbermen said he believed the majority of commercial fishers follow the rules.
"Gillnets in modern times have to be always monitored, the fishermen have to sit with it and, if any interaction does occur, they have to immediately attend to the net and let free the animal that's been interacted with," he said.
"The good commercial fishermen know when there's endangered species about and they know how to avoid interactions because they don't want [it happening].
"It's a distraction for them, it costs them money, time and equipment and they don't want to negatively impact the environment."
A Fisheries Queensland spokesperson said there are "rules in place" for commercial fishers relating to fishing nets and "all interactions with protected species, including turtles and dugong" must be reported.
"There are limits on the size of nets that can be used," the spokesperson said.
"The Queensland government is currently considering its response to the UNESCO Report on the Reactive Monitoring Mission to the Great Barrier Reef."
Mr Bobbermen urged members of the public to report any suspected illegal fishing activities to the Fisheries Queensland "Fishwatch" hotline.
