Blacktip Reef Shark Catch and Biological Data from the GBRWHA, 2008-2012

Fisheries-independent sampling from October 2008 to May 2012 captured blacktip reef sharks in inshore habitats of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Data from the Australian Ocean Data Network includes catch per unit effort, shark size, sex, reproductive state, age, growth, and tag-recapture records. Simple water quality parameters like temperature and salinity were also recorded at sample locations.

Use Cases

• Modeling shark population abundance based on catch per unit effort data.
• Analyzing reproductive biology and maturity based on mating scars and clasper measurements.
• Studying age and growth patterns from the provided age data.
• Conducting movement and survival analysis using tagging and tag-recapture data.
• Assessing habitat suitability by correlating shark presence with recorded water quality parameters.

Strengths

• Multi-year temporal coverage from October 2008 to May 2012.
• Includes multiple data types: catch effort, biological measurements, reproductive data, age/growth data, and tagging records.
• Data collection covers multiple inshore habitat types: reefs, intertidal flats, seagrasses, and mangroves.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to data_gov_au, focusing on Cleveland Bay and Halifax Bay.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Fisheries-independent sampling using bottom-set multihook research longlines, supplemented by a commercial fishery observer program.

Time Range

October 2008 to May 2012

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-10 21:35:29.012549; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Inshore habitats of the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area (GBRWHA), specifically Cleveland Bay and Halifax Bay.