The State Government is introducing tougher penalties for dog owners whose animals injure or kill penguins.

Penguin deaths in Tasmania 2019 Doctors Rocks (August) 42

Doctors Rocks (August) 42 Picnic Point (May) 18

Picnic Point (May) 18 Low Head (March) 12

Low Head (March) 12 Bicheno (January) 4 2018 Bicheno (November) 30

Bicheno (November) 30 Low Head (November) 58

Low Head (November) 58 Low Head (June) 12

A new bill sets a new maximum fine of $5,040 for owners of dogs that injure or kill sensitive wildlife.

The dogs could also face destruction.

Under the current Dog Control Act 2000, the owner of a dog that injures or kills an animal can be fined up to $2,600.

The penalty for taking a dog into a prohibited area will also increase, from $1,680 to $3,360.

The Tasmanian Government announced in June that it would review the act after 42 little penguins were mauled to death by a dog at Wynyard in the state's north-west.

More than 170 little penguins have died in various colonies around the state in the past year, which wildlife experts say puts the species in a "tenuous" position.

Local Government Minister Mark Shelton said the amendments would keep dog owners in line.

"This is to make sure the owners of the dogs can be prosecuted, and so the owners of the dogs have to take responsibility for the actions of their pets," he said.

One of 42 little penguins believed killed by dogs in north-west Tasmania in August. ( Supplied: The Advocate/Brodie Weeding )

"It's not only little penguins [under the legislation], it's any vulnerable native animal around the coastline that's been declared."

Owner of the Low Head Penguin Tours, Shirley Lincoln, welcomed the move.

"We can start on this and build up more," she said.

"Half the time up here, people don't realise their dogs are out."

Ms Lincoln said attacks had a negative influence on business.

"When [attacks] happen, people talk and say there are no penguins at Low Head, and there are," she said.

Parks and Wildlife will also be given the ability to take DNA samples from dogs suspected of attacking native wild life.

Little penguin chicks are left on shore while the parents search for food. ( ABC Northern Tasmania: Rick Eaves )

Bigger fines not the solution: environmentalist

Tasmanian Greens Senator Peter Whish-Wilson has described the proposed law changes as "moving things in the right direction", but he does not believe it will solve the problem.

"What we also need is surveillance and enforcement," he said.

"The big problem we've had in recent years with hundreds of tragic deaths of penguins is we haven't been able to catch the culprits, so unless you've got that enforcement and deterrents you're never going to solve the problem," he said.

Mr Whish-Wilson has also urged the State Government to increase its funding for the Penguin Advisory Group, which has been tasked with helping protect the species.

"We need hundreds of thousands of dollars firstly to map these rookeries, because you can't monitor what you don't manage, and at the moment we don't even know how many penguins are there," Mr Whish-Wilson said.

"[We need] more cameras in rookeries, more fences to actually protect penguins in the first place.

"We know that a surveillance camera did catch a dog in Bicheno and an owner was fined."

The public has until September 27 to comment on the proposed Dog Control Act changes.