Anecdotal reports published in the Daily Telegraph suggest Grey Nurse Shark numbers have been underestimated.

I think anyone who cares about such things would be pleased to hear that there are indeed 6000 grey nurse sharks in our waters. But I’m not breaking open the bubbly in response to unreported assertions by recreational fishers and unnamed “insiders”.

Grey nurse sharks were once a plentiful species in NSW- there used to be far more than 6000 of them. The grey nurse shark was the second most commonly caught shark after the whaler shark around Port Stephens in the 1920s.

It is now suggested by respected marine ecologists after numerous exhaustive studies that the NSW population may not have the capacity to recover unless fishing mortality is eliminated. These studies suggest the NSW population is less than 1000 individuals. The largest number of animals seen on the coast during any one survey was 292 individuals.

In 2002, NSW Fisheries initiated a tagging program to estimates of the total population using a standard mark resighting. This study supported the previous diving surveys, giving a total population estimate of between 410 and 461 individuals. Modelling analysis has also been used to determine the best and worst case scenarios for this species to reach quasi-extinction (when only 50 females remain). Using a population size of 300, 461, 1000 and 3000, the population will reach quasi-extinction within the next 100 years and more likely, if only 461 individuals remain, 10-20 years.

Unfortunately, there has been no change in the fishing-related mortality rate of female grey nurse sharks since the declaration of critical habitat sites in NSW, even though between 52% and 63% of the total population occupy the existing critical habitat sites for 95% of the time.

Are we going to risk this species going extinct in NSW, just so that fishers aren’t hindered in their sport? As about 9 grey nurse sharks are reported to be killed by fishers each year (even more likely to be killed and unreported), what do they suggest is to be done to protect this gentle shark?