The WWF has already spent $100,000 buying a Great Barrier Reef shark fishing licence (N4) which it intends to retire, although the licence has not been active since 2004.
It's one of five N4 licences in Queensland and, according to WWF, it will presumably save the lives of 10,000 sharks, based on each shark weighing 4kg.
Queensland Seafood Industry Association chief executive Eric Perez says the WWF is meddling in a heavily regulated industry that focuses on sustainable fishing.
"They don't have a point. They are trying to interfere with fisheries management by stealth," Mr Perez told AAP.
"They can't force their way into regulating the industry the way they want to, so they get cashed up individuals with a green tinge or bent ... which is a way to undermining us."
Mr Perez said the purchase of one, or even two, of the licences was not going to have an impact but if the WWF bought up more then eventually there would be repercussions.
He said family businesses and micro businesses would be affected and Queenslander retailers would either have to buy fish from interstate or import more.
"It's alarmism for no good. Over time ... employment will be impacted," he said.
"My understanding of the current statistics is that there are no fisheries in Queensland that are deemed unsustainable."
Mr Perez warned that conservation groups were trying to stake a claim in all primary industries.
"It demonstrates that they want relevance in every form of agriculture in the country," he said.
The WWF says it bought the licence on the belief that several hammerhead shark species were in decline along the Great Barrier Reef and it was considering purchasing another.
The federal environment department is undertaking a two-year study in scalloped, great and smooth hammerhead sharks which will be completed by the end of September.
"The aim is to stop licences that were fishing for sharks returning to shark fishing and impacting on shark populations, particularly hammerheads. But we're also concerned about dugongs, dolphins and turtles killed as bycatch," said WWF-Australia conservation director Gilly Llewellyn.
