Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority Position Statement on the conservation and management of sharks and rays in the Queensland East Coast Inshore Finfish Fishery

Abstract

The purpose of this document is to state the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority’s (GBRMPA) position on conservation of sharks and rays in relation to the Queensland East Coast Inshore Finfish Fishery (ECIFF). The GBRMPA's primary concern for sharks and rays is ensuring their conservation in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (Marine Park), which includes preventing population declines and ecosystem impacts. This requires an ecosystem-based approach to the management of this fishery. The GBRMPA also provides for reasonable use of marine resources within the Marine Park so long as the use can be demonstrated to be ecologically sustainable. Around 80 per cent of sharks and rays caught on Queensland's east coast come from within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Catch of sharks within the World Heritage Area has increased dramatically in recent years, with the total catch peaking in 2003 at more than three times the catch of 1988.