Shark Size Distribution Changes in Northern Australia Over 25 Years

Northern Australia shark populations of two commercially important species, the Australian blacktip and spot-tail sharks, changed in size over a 25-year period. The dataset, provided by Parks Australia, compares fork length measurements from sharks caught in 1983-1985 and 2002-2006 across regions like the Gulf of Carpentaria and the western Northern Territory. It originates from research published in a 2012 journal article.

Use Cases

• Modeling population recovery trends based on size distribution changes over time.
• Assessing regional differences in shark growth and size between the Gulf of Carpentaria and the western Northern Territory.
• Evaluating the impact of historical over-exploitation and subsequent fishing management on shark demographics.
• Comparing size-at-catch between sexes (female vs. male) for the two shark species.

Strengths

• Long-term data covering a 25-year period for two shark species.
• Explicitly compares two distinct time periods: 1983-1985 and 2002-2006.
• Analysis includes regional comparisons and sex-based size differences.

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 and temporal bias inherent to the specific fishery surveys.

Provenance

Source

Parks Australia, referencing a source publication.

Collection Method

Fork length measurements from sharks caught in commercial fisheries, analyzed with Bayesian generalized linear and mixed-effects models.

Time Range

1983-1985 and 2002-2006

Freshness

Last updated 2026-07-16 23:30:25.192280; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Northern Australia, specifically the Gulf of Carpentaria and the western Northern Territory.