Centre for Sustainable Aquatic Ecosystems

Bremer Bay on Western Australia’s south coast looks OK

📑 NEW STUDY: Braccini et al. found that a rigorous fisheries management regime has ensured the sustainability of shark and rays numbers in Western Australia.

🐟 Species studied

Sharks and rays

🌏 Location

Western Australia – a global shark and ray diversity hotspot

🤔 The issue

Overfishing continues to drive the decline of sharks and rays worldwide, contributing to the deterioration of their global conservation status. Effective fisheries management can prevent overfishing, but only a small fraction of the global catch of sharks and rays has been assessed as being sustainable.

👩🏽🔬 What did the researchers do?

A weight-of-evidence stock assessment framework, incorporating many stock-specific analyses, was used to provide scientific advice and inform the management and conservation of shark and ray species that interact with fisheries in Western Australia, a global shark and ray diversity hotspot.

💡 What did they find?

The rigorous management regime implemented in Western Australia over the last four decades effectively reduced fishing mortality. The current fishing sustainability risk for most species is low, with previously overfished stocks recovered or recovering to sustainable levels.

👍 Any recommendations?

This study provides optimism and confidence that the application and implementation of effective management arrangements can recover shark stocks and thereby underpin sustainable fishing operations.

The team managed to catch a 2.2m Dwarf Sawfish last week in the Fitzroy River as well as a few Freshwater Sawfish. Caught on a hand line by Jack @jack ingelbrecht

This Freshwater Sawfish had fishing line wrapped around her body. The skin had grown over it and it was cutting deep into her pectoral fin. We removed it and gave her an acoustic tag and a dorsal ID tag. She swam off strongly.