Just over one year ago we were all outraged when a beautiful blue groper called Gus was killed by a spearfisher in the waters off Cronulla. Weeks later another 3 blue Gropers near Jervis Bay met the same fate.
The community united and our combined pressure led to the announcement of a 12-month blue groper fishing ban! But that expires on 28 February and once again the beloved blue Groper could be legally caught and killed by anglers across the state.
This beautiful and friendly creature is the state fish of NSW. It is culturally significant to many First Nations peoples and plays a role in maintaining ecosystem balance by controlling the numbers of sea urchins and other animals.
Unfortunately for them, blue gropers are also slow growing, friendly and have unique social structures that make them susceptible to overfishing. And, thanks to climate change, they’re disappearing at an alarming rate, with the NSW blue groper population halving since 2008.
Help Gus the Groper’s memory live on: Join the campaign to ban blue groper fishing once and for all and restore marine sanctuaries in NSW.