MEDIA RELEASE 7th September 2011

Has the Minister for the Environment forgotten Tasmania’s marine environment on this year’s Threatened Species Day? Threatened Species Day is celebrated every year to highlight the plight of our most vulnerable wildlife and their need for protection, yet Tasmania’s oceans failed to even get a mention in Minister Wightman’s Threatened Species Day press release.

“The Minister for the Environment should be aware that there are on the order of 50 marine species listed as threatened under Tasmanian and Federal legislation.’ said Rebecca Hubbard, Marine Coordinator, Environment Tasmania.

“Tasmania’s marine environment is globally significant for its diversity and high numbers of unique species, and yet despite the Critically Endangered status of some including the Spotted Handfish they don’t even rate acknowledgement.

“If we are to truly learn the lessons of our past which led to the extinction of the Tasmanian Tiger we need to develop a network of marine national parks that protect our marine wildlife as a matter of urgency. Without this basic level of habitat protection, we may end up with the world’s first extinct fish 75 years after we lost the Thylacine,” concluded Ms Hubbard.

For more information: Rebecca Hubbard, Marine Coordinator, Environment Tasmania 0401 854 912