*

Sandbar Shark occurs primarily off both the east and west coasts of Australia. The eastern Australian stock is sustainable and the Western Australian stock is recovering.

Sandbar Shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus) occurs primarily off both the east and west coasts of Australia, from approximately latitude 17–32°S off the east coast, and latitude 13–36°S off the west coast [McAuley et al. 2007a; Last and Stevens 2009]. The species is also encountered off the northern Australian coast, although in much lower numbers. In addition to genetic analysis that suggests limited gene flow between eastern and western Sandbar Shark stocks [Portnoy et al. 2010], there are limited recorded catches in the Gulf of Carpentaria and southern Australia. Conventional tagging data and recent genomic studies indicate that Sandbar Sharks form a single population within Western Australia (McAuley et al. 2005; Pember et al 2023). Thus, the species is considered to be represented by separate Eastern and Western biological stocks in Australian waters.

Here, assessment of stock status is presented at the biological stock level—Western Australia and Eastern Australia.

Eastern Australia

In New South Wales, whaler sharks (Carcharhinus spp.), including Sandbar Shark, have historically not been adequately identified and reported at a species level in commercial catch data. However, observer data indicate that Sandbar Shark represents the largest single-species component of catches in the Ocean Trap and Line Fishery (New South Wales), at 35% of the overall shark catch between 2008 and 2009 [Macbeth et al. 2009]. Since the introduction of new logbooks in 2009, fishers are required to report all landed sharks to species level with improved reliability of species identification following development of a species identification guide and at-sea education via an observer program [Macbeth et al. 2018]. Since new management arrangements were introduced in 2013–14, catch has not exceeded 3.8 tonnes (t) per annum, with 3.26 t reported for the fiscal year 2021–22. Insufficient information is available to undertake a quantitative stock assessment of any whaler shark species in NSW [Rowling et al. 2010]. Therefore, a weight-of-evidence approach combining catch data and analysis of Effective Population Size has been used to determine stock status. 

In Queensland, Sandbar Shark are retained in negligible quantities across the net and line fishery components of the East Coast Inshore Fishery (ECIF). The species makes a minor contribution to the total Queensland shark harvest with less than one t reported through the logbook program each year since 2003–04 apart from 2007–08 (1.6 t) and 2009–10 (1.9 t). 

Outside the commercial fishing sector, the catch of Sandbar Sharks in Queensland waters is low to negligible. On average, nine Sandbar Sharks are caught in the Queensland Shark Control Program each year (2001–2017 data) [Queensland Government, 2023]. No recreational or charter data is available for this species [Teixeira et al. 2021]. However, recreational harvest is limited by a one shark in possession limit and a maximum legal size limit of 1.5 m total length. 

New software, known as NeOGen [Blower et al 2019], has been developed which estimated the total population size of Sandbar Sharks on the eastern Australian coastline to be approximately 105,000 individuals based on 476 genetic samples [Blower 2020; Peddemors et al. 2020].  Simulations at the historically higher fishing levels recorded in 2008–09 indicated those observed fishery harvest volumes to be sustainable [Blower 2020; Peddemors et al. 2020]. The above evidence indicates that the biomass of this stock is unlikely to be depleted and that recruitment is unlikely to be impaired. The above evidence also indicates that the current level of fishing mortality is unlikely to cause the stock to become recruitment impaired.

On the basis of the evidence provided above, the Eastern Australia biological stock is classified as a sustainable stock.

Sandbar Shark biology [McAuley et al. 2006; McAuley et al. 2007a; Geraghty et al. 2013 ]

Distribution of reported commercial catch of Sandbar Shark

Western Australia – Recreational (Management methods) A recreational fishing from boat licence is required for recreational fishing from a powered vessel in Western Australia.

Queensland – Commercial QLD commercial and charter data has been sourced from the commercial fisheries logbook program.  Further information available through the Fisheries Summary Report (https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/monitoring-research/data/queensland-fisheries-summary-report)  

Queensland – Indigenous (management methods) for more information see https://www.daf.qld.gov.au/business-priorities/fisheries/traditional-fishing

New South Wales – Indigenous (Management Methods) https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/aboriginal-fishing

Recreational and Indigenous (catch) Given the offshore distribution of Sandbar Shark, near-shore catches are likely to be negligible.

Commercial catch of Sandbar Shark - note confidential catch not shown

1. Blower D.C., C. Riginos, J.R. Ovenden. (2019). NeOGen: A tool to predict genetic effective population size (Ne) for species with generational overlap and to assist empirical Ne study design. Molecular Ecology Resources 19: 290-271.
2. Blower, D. C. 2020. Estimating contemporary abundance, demography, and vulnerability to change for long-lived species with effective population size and population simulation. PhD thesis. School of Biological Sciences, p. 257. The University of Queensland.
3. Braccini, M, Blay, N, Hesp, A, and Molony, B 2018. Resource Assessment Report Temperate Demersal Elasmobranch Resource of Western Australia. Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. Fisheries Research Report No. 294 Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia. 149 pp
4. Geraghty PT, Macbeth, WG, Harry, AV, Bell, JE, Yerman, MN and Williamson, JE 2013, Age and growth parameters for three heavily exploited shark species off temperate eastern Australia, ICES Journal of Marine Science, 71: 559–573.
5. JABBA: Just Another Bayesian Biomass Assessment. Fish. Res. 204, 275–288
6. Last, PR and Stevens, JD 2009, Sharks and rays of Australia, 2nd edn, CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood.
7. Macbeth, WG, Butcher, PA, Collins, D, McGrath, SP, Provost, SC, Bowling, AC, Geraghty, PT and Peddemors, VM 2018, Improving reliability of species identification and logbook catch reporting by commercial fishers in an Australian demersal shark longline. Fisheries Management and Ecology, 25: 186–202.
8. Macbeth, WG, Geraghty, PT, Peddemors, VM and Gray, CA 2009, Observer-based study of targeted commercial fishing for large shark species in waters off northern New South Wales, Fisheries final report series 114, Industry and Investment New South Wales, Cronulla.
9. Marshall L, Giles, J and Johnson, GJ 2016, Catch composition of a traditional Indonesian shark fishery operating in the MOU Box, northwestern Australia: Results of shark fin identification from Operation Snapshot (May 2015), Australian Fisheries Management Authority, Canberra.
10. McAuley, R and Rowland, F 2012, Northern Shark Fisheries status report, in WJ Fletcher and K Santoro (eds), Status reports of the fisheries and aquatic resources of Western Australia 2011/12, Western Australian Department of Fisheries, Perth, 222–227.
11. McAuley, R, Braccini, M, Newman, SJ and O’Malley, J 2015, Temperate Demersal Gillnet and Demersal Longline Fisheries Status Report, in WJ Fletcher and K Santoro (eds), Status Reports of the Fisheries and Aquatic Resources of Western Australia 2014/15, Western Australian Department of Fisheries, Perth, 261–272.
12. McAuley, R, Lenanton, R, Chidlow, J, Allison, R and Heist, E 2005, Biology and stock assessment of the Thickskin (Sandbar) Shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus, in Western Australia and further refinement of the Dusky Shark, Carcharhinus obscurus, stock assessment, final report to the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, project 2000/134, Fisheries research report 151, Western Australian Department of Fisheries, Perth.
13. McAuley, RB, Simpfendorfer, CA and Hall, NG 2007, A method for evaluating the impacts of fishing mortality and stochastic influences on the demography of two long-lived shark stocks, ICES Journal of Marine Science, 64: 1710–1722.
14. McAuley, RB, Simpfendorfer, CA, Hyndes, GA and Lenanton, RCJ 2007, Distribution and reproductive biology of the Sandbar Shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus, (Nardo, 1827) in Western Australian waters, Marine and Freshwater Research, 58: 116–126.
15. McAuley, RB, Simpfendorfer, CA, Hyndes, GA, Allison, RR, Chidlow, JA, Newman, SJ and Lenanton, RCJ 2006, Validated age and growth of the sandbar shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus (Nardo, 1827) in the waters off Western Australia, Environmental Biology of Fishes, 77: 385–400.
16. Peddemors, V, Macbeth, W, Collins, D, Goulstone, A, Ives, M., Ovenden, J., Butcher, P. 2020. Shark Futures: Sustainable management of the NSW whaler shark fishery. Port Stephens, NSW. 190pp.
17. Population genomic and size distribution data suggest high genetic connectivity in the sandbar shark (Carcharhinus plumbeus) along a 2700 km coastline. Fisheries Research 266: 106779
18. Portnoy, DS, McDowell, JR, Heist, EJ, Musick, JA and Graves, JE 2010, World phylogeography and male-mediated gene flow in the Sandbar Shark, Carcharhinus plumbeus, Molecular Ecology, 19: 1994–2010.
19. Quantifying the unreported and unaccounted domestic and foreign commercial catch of sharks and rays in Western Australia. Ambio 50: 1337-1350
20. Queensland Government, 2023, Shark Control Program: Shark Catch Statistics by Year. Available at: https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/shark-control-program-shark-catch-statistics (Accessed: 2 August 2023).
21. Rowling, KA, Hegarty, A and Ives, M 2010, Status of fisheries resources in NSW 2008/09, Industry and Investment New South Wales, Cronulla.
22. Ryan, K.L., Hall, N. G., Lai, E. K., Smallwood, C. B., Tate, A., Taylor, S. M. and Wise, B. S. (2019). Statewide survey of boat-based recreational fishing in Western Australia 2017/18. Fisheries Research Report No. 297, Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Western Australia
23. Stock synthesis: A biological and statistical framework for fish stock assessment and fishery management. Fish. Res. 142, 86–99
24. Teixeira, D, Janes, R, and Webley, J 2021, 2019–20 Statewide Recreational Fishing Survey Key Results. Project Report. State of Queensland, Brisbane.