Net-Free Reef Campaign Wins Sustainability Award

Through the Net-Free Reef campaign, the World Wide Fund for Nature Australia (WWF-Australia) calls on the public to urge the Queensland and Federal governments to end commercial gill net fishing in the Great Barrier Reef - ensuring a healthy and vibrant Reef for all.

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is one of the seven natural wonders of the world and a global draw for visitors. The Reef is also one of the planet’s best-known World Heritage Areas - home to some of the most threatened marine wildlife.

Despite this, more than 60% of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area is open to commercial gill net fishing. Invisible nets up to 600 metres in length entrap more than fish – they also entangle and kill countless turtles, sharks, dolphins and dugongs.

For years, WWF-Australia has been advocating for the removal of commercial gill nets from the Great Barrier Reef’s waters. In 2016, they took the unusual step of purchasing a commercial gill net licence to ensure it never trapped and drowned another dugong, turtle or dolphin. Thanks to the organisation’s generous supporters from across the globe, they were able to purchase and shelve four commercial gill net licences entitled to fish in Reef’s waters, establishing a 100,000-square-kilometre oasis the size of Tasmania to create an area it called the Net-Free North. WWF-Australia went on to partner with VisionDirect to upcycle 100% of the gill net, turning it into supersustainable sunglasses.

In 2023, WWF-Australia extended its vision and set out to remove all commercial gill nets from the entire Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area through the Net-Free Reef campaign. In May 2023, WWF began an intensive, public campaign to educate and mobilise people on the damage gill nets cause and gain public support for definitive change.

The campaign focused on the promotion of positive, solutions-focused messaging and targeted Queenslanders living in key electorates along the coastline of the Great Barrier Reef - championing the message that ‘A thriving reef = net-free reef’. The campaign tapped into the public’s shared loved for the beautiful Great Barrier Reef, educated people on the benefits of a Net-Free Reef for different communities - both above and below the water - and provided a tangible means of taking action through an online petition form that allowed signees to send personalised letters to their local MPs based on their postcode.

Just one month after the campaign’s launch, WWF-Australia had gathered over 7,000 signatures, made over 4.7 million digital impressions, and 341 mentions in the media, leading to an increased awareness of commercial gill nets and their impact on Australian nature by 4% over a six month period. But the ultimate success of the campaign was demonstrated by the landmark joint decision by the Australian and Queensland governments to phase out commercial gill net fishing across the Great Barrier Reef by mid-2027. This result will protect much more than just our precious marine animals. It will also support the people and communities along Queensland’s coast who rely on a healthy and vibrant Reef. This includes safeguarding over 60,000 jobs and the $6.4 billion tourism industry around the Reef. Most importantly, this result will ensure that future generations can share the privilege we have to experience the awe and wonder of the Reef and be inspired to preserve its health and diversity for many generations to come.

For their highly-effective campaign to phase out gill net fishing in the Great Barrier Reef, WWF-Australia were the recipients of the Banksia Foundation's 2024 Marketing and Communications for Impact Award, sponsored by Currie Communications.

Website: wwf.org.au