THE powers-that-be are at it again.

Moves are afoot to ban fishing for mako sharks in Commonwealth waters.

Such a ban would extend from the three to 200-nautical-mile limit of the exclusive economic zone, or the edge of the continental shelf (which may extend beyond the 200nm limit).

No shark ban has been announced, but the Federal Government appears to have no alternative but to do so.

As far as shark fishers are concerned, the timing could not be worse given that we are entering shark fishing season in Victoria, and the mako is our most sought game shark species.

The shortfin mako grows to 505kg and lives up to 25 years.

Most makos caught in Victoria are taken in Commonwealth waters and weigh less than 100kg; the largest I have seen weighed 200kg.

To attract sharks, anglers establish berley trails, which also attract mutton birds that dive under the water to feed on any scraps floating down.

When a blue shark comes up a trail, the birds move aside; when the visitor is a mako, you can almost smell the fear as the birds scatter in all directions.

A big mako is an intimidating sight when you are 10km or so offshore in a boat that suddenly seems too small.

These sharks are a deep, electric blue colour and their large, black eyes seem to follow you when you bring one along side.

Mean, fast and dangerous, makos often go airborne when hooked, and most anglers treat them like powder kegs on a short fuse ready to explode due to their reputation for coming inboard and wreaking havoc in boats.

Rumour of a proposed ban has circulated for several weeks.

The issue was raised at a round table fisheries forum in Melbourne, attended by former Victorian recreational fisheries manager, Ross Winstanley.

Ross told me: "The story is that shortfin and longfin makos have been listed as migratory species recognised as being at a high level of threat globally under the Convention for Migratory Species."

The forum discussion included Anthony McGregor of Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Shane Korth of the Torquay Angling Club (both on speakerphone), and representatives of the Australian National Sportfishing Association and the Game Fishing Association of Victoria.

"As Australia is a signatory to the convention, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 mandates that these species be listed and treated as at the same threat/conservation status as white sharks," Ross said.

"There seems to be no ministerial discretion and, as most are caught outside state waters, this leaves anglers with no possibility of keeping makos from the end of January when the ban is expected to come on line here.

"Although VRFish, Recfish Australia and the Game Fishing Association of Australia will be pressing for some way out of this bind, the best hope may be a review of the EPBC Act - currently with the minister(s) - but any possible resulting changes to Commonwealth legislation are likely to take a year or so."

Mick Fletorides, assistant editor of Fishing World, wrote on the national magazine's website that the porbeagle, shortfin mako and longfin mako would be listed as migratory species as of the end of January.

"This means it will not be permitted to take porbeagle, shortfin or longfin mako in Commonwealth waters, or to retain ... it is unclear at this stage how this applies to commercial fishing operations or if catch and release fishing for makos will be permitted," Mick wrote.

And Mick quoted marine biologist and author, Dr Julian Pepperell, as saying: "The situation seems to be the result of a loophole in that, if a species is listed as threatened or vulnerable anywhere in the world, and it is then listed as migratory under the CMS, the protective measures apply to any signatory country.

"In this case, makos are listed in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, but the population in the eastern Pacific is stable and not listed, and there have been no assessments in the western Pacific or Indian Ocean.

"There is simply no way that the population in the Atlantic is connected with the population off eastern Australia.

"This loophole needs to be dealt with or other species will follow."

There are no population estimates for mako sharks in our waters, and this is highlighted in "Proposal for Inclusion of Species on the Appendices of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals."

The document states: "Trend data are largely lacking from the Indo Pacific."

The only evidence to support the claim of a drastic decline in mako numbers in our waters is that sightings of makos by New Zealand anglers and recapture rates of tagged makos have declined in the past decade, and therefore it is "reasonable to assume that decreases may be occurring in those areas."

Several sports fisheries are now primarily focused on tag and release rather than retention of the catch, which is the way most environmentally aware Australian anglers fish, so what's the problem?