NESP MaC Project 3.13: Eastern Grey Nurse Shark Population Abundance and Trend, 2023-2025

A 2023-2025 project refined abundance and trend estimates for the Critically Endangered eastern Australian grey nurse shark population. The work combined biopsy sampling, genetic analysis, stereo-video length measurement, and statistical modelling, analyzing tissue from more than 300 sharks. Findings provide a stronger evidence base for Australian and New South Wales government decision-making on shark recovery and conservation.

Use Cases

• Estimate adult population size based on close-kin mark-recapture genetic methods described in the project.
• Model population trends for recovery assessments using refined statistical estimates mentioned in the final report.
• Improve age estimation for sharks using stereo-video measurements and Australian-specific length-at-age models.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of spatial protections for shark aggregation sites using the project's evidence base.

Strengths

• Analysis is based on tissue samples from more than 300 individual sharks.
• Combines multiple data collection methods: biopsy sampling, genetic analysis, stereo-video measurement, and statistical modelling.
• Findings are intended to directly inform government decision-making for a Critically Endangered species.

Limitations

• The primary listed output is a final project report; specific data files and their structure are not described.
• Row count, column definitions, and file formats for underlying data are unknown.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the study of the eastern Australian population.

Provenance

Source

CSIRO, NSW DPI, Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Combined biopsy sampling, genetic analysis, stereo-video length measurement, and statistical modelling.

Time Range

Project conducted 2023-2025

Freshness

Metadata last updated 2026-06-05 05:15:44.352786; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Eastern Australia