Recreational Harvest of Sharks and Rays in Western Australia Is Only a Minor Component of the Total Harvest

Matias Braccini,Stephen Taylor,Eva Lai,Karina Ryan

doi:10.3390/su13116215

Abstract

Sharks and rays are a global conservation concern with an increasing number of species considered at risk of extinction, mostly due to overfishing. Although the recreational harvest of sharks and rays is poorly documented and generally minimal, it can be comparable to the commercial harvest. In this study, we quantified the recreational harvest of sharks and rays in Western Australia, a region with a marine coastline greater than 20,000 km. A total of 33 species/taxonomic groups were identified, with the harvest dominated by dusky and bronze whalers, blacktip reef sharks, gummy sharks, Port Jackson sharks, wobbegongs, and rays and skates. Eighty-five percent of individuals were released with an unknown status (alive or dead). We found a latitudinal gradient of species composition, with tropical and subtropical species of the genus Carcharhinus dominating in the north and temperate species from a range of families dominating in the south. Overall, our findings showed that the recreational harvest was negligible when compared with commercial landings.

Highlights

Recreational fishing has numerous socioeconomic benefits, and the vast majority of people that fish today do so recreationally [1,2,3]
Despite being implicated in the decline of some fish populations, recreational fishing is rarely considered a threat, not even to endangered species [6], in part because obtaining robust estimates of the recreational harvest is difficult for rare species and may not account for post-release mortality (PRM) [7]
The reconstructed time series indicate that recreational harvest of shark and ray species is low and represents a small component of the total mortality of sharks and rays in Western Australia compared with commercial landings

Summary

Introduction

Recreational fishing has numerous socioeconomic benefits, and the vast majority of people that fish today do so recreationally [1,2,3]. Despite being implicated in the decline of some fish populations, recreational fishing is rarely considered a threat, not even to endangered species [6], in part because obtaining robust estimates of the recreational harvest is difficult for rare species and may not account for post-release mortality (PRM) [7]. Commercial fishing is considered the main threat to shark and ray populations [10], and population assessments are typically limited to evaluating commercial catches (e.g., [11,12]). The potential impact from recreational fishing on shark and ray populations is unknown since reliable harvest time series are typically either limited or unavailable [2]

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Discussion

Conclusion