Australia’s shark status update

From Fish magazine, June 2019:

One of the more heated debates to stir the blood of Australian shark experts has been the question of the health of the nation’s Greynurse Shark (Carcharias taurus) populations. In 2003, experts from the east coast were calling for the species to be listed as critically endangered. But their colleagues from the west were adamant that populations were in good health. It took five days of intense discussion to reach the conclusion that there were in fact two populations, or stocks, of Greynurse Shark, not one.

This is just one example of the complexity faced by scientists when assessing the overall health of Australia’s shark and ray populations. Tackling many of these challenges head-on is a new report funded by the FRDC.

Shark futures: A report card for Australia’s sharks and rays has built the most comprehensive picture yet of the status of Australian sharks and shark-like rays, about half of which are endemic to Australian waters. Read more.