LAW10727 - Marine Animal Protection Law (2015)

Unit aim

This course covers legal protections for marine wildlife and biodiversity under international and Australian domestic law. There is a focus on contemporary issues such as illegal fishing, whaling in the Southern Oceans and the relationship between marine threatened species protection and shark control measures. This will include several case studies on these issues. The course also looks at the law and policy responses to human-created environmental threats to marine animals and the role of international trade law, multilateral institutions and trade agreements in the exploitation and protection of marine wildlife beyond state borders.

Unit content

1.       Threats to marine animals – pollution, exploitation and habitat destruction.

2.       Protection in Australian waters – marine reserves, species protection and threat management.

3.       International treaty law and institutions.

4.       Delimitation of maritime boundaries.

5.       Primary Australian legislation for the protection of marine animals.

6.       The role of policy in the protection of marine animals.

7.       Case studies on the law and politics of marine animal protection internationally and in Australian    waters – IUU fishing, whaling and shark control.

Learning outcomes

Unit Learning Outcomes express learning achievement in terms of what a student should know, understand and be able to do on completion of a unit. These outcomes are aligned with the graduate attributes. The unit learning outcomes and graduate attributes are also the basis of evaluating prior learning.

Prescribed texts