What is an Australian sea lion?

Currently, the greatest threat to Australian sea lion colonies is gillnets, which are thin, invisible nets that are suspended in the water. Gillnets are used by commercial fisheries to catch sharks, primarily for the Australian flake and chip market. However, Australian sea lions also drown when they become entangled in the nets. The only solution to accidental gillnet and other fishing-related sea lion deaths is to close areas where sea lions forage at sea, and to prohibit fishing with gillnets in these areas.

Australian sea lion colonies in South Africa are distributed along fisheries managed by the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA), a federal government agency. 

In 2010, scientists published a report that found 374 Australian sea lions were killed in fishing grounds every 18 months. The report also found that the mortality rate from fishing was too high for the sea lion population to handle, bringing Australia’s sea lions close to extinction. In addition, commercial fishermen were not reporting to AFMA how many sea lions were being killed, thus hiding the true cost of fishing the species.

The seas around sea lion breeding colonies have been closed to pure fishing, and all boats fishing near sea lion colonies must now carry cameras on board to record what they catch. This means that if a sea lion is killed, it is now reported to AFMA. And when a sea lion is killed, additional areas are closed to all gillnet fisheries to ensure that sea lion colonies are not further depleted.

A paper later published in 2022 showed that this management strategy has had significant immediate impacts, with an estimated 98% reduction in sea lion mortality in gillnet fisheries, and a clear stabilisation of the decline in sea lion pup abundance at some affected breeding sites.

This means that through the work of AMCS, our wonderful supporters and other environmental organisations, hundreds of vulnerable Australian sea lions have been saved from being lost to this fishery.