About the proposal
The 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS) was held in Campo Grande, Brazil from 23–29 March 2026.
At that meeting, listing proposals for scalloped hammerhead shark, great hammerhead shark, pelagic thresher shark, bigeye thresher shark and common thresher shark were approved for listing on CMS Appendix I. Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act) includes a domestic requirement that species listed in either Appendix must be added to the list of migratory species under the EPBC Act.
The inclusion of these species as listed migratory species under the EPBC Act is being considered by the Minister for the Environment and Water following completion of Australia’s domestic treaty process. Once listed as migratory species, it becomes an offence to kill, injure, take, trade, keep or move the species in Commonwealth waters.
Fishers in fisheries with current Part 13 (protected species) accreditation made under section 222A of the EPBC Act who incidentally interact with listed migratory species are exempt from normal offences under Part 13 of the EPBC Act.
If the listing is approved, implementation of the listing requires removal of listed migratory species from the current Wildlife Trade Operation (WTO) approvals for the three fisheries, under which export of scalloped hammerhead shark and/or great hammerhead shark (which are also listed in CITES Appendix II) was possible due to an existing positive CITES non-detriment finding issued by Australia’s CITES Scientific Authority.
The three fisheries that would be affected by any listing are the:
Commonwealth Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery
Northern Territory Offshore Net and Line Fishery
Western Australian Temperate Demersal Gillnet and Demersal Longline Fishery.
The department is considering a process to revoke and remake the WTO approvals for the three fisheries if the Minister decides to include the abovementioned shark species in the migratory species list. No other changes to the export approvals for these fisheries are being proposed.
In accordance with the provisions of section 303FR of the EPBC Act, and pending the Minister's separate decision to update the migratory species list, you are invited to comment on this proposal.
It is requested that any comments made be in a single submission that clearly identifies the relevant fisheries and species for which comments are being made.
Any comments received will form part of the documentation provided to the Australian Government Minister for the Environment and Water, or the minister’s delegate for decision. Copies of comments may be made available to other persons with a particular interest in the proposal. Please advise in your comment if you wish to claim any areas of confidentiality.
Public comment is open from 27 October 2026 until 25 November 2026.
How can I get involved?
You can review the assessment reports and related WTO instruments for the affected fisheries and send us your comments.
Relevant fisheries
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