Australia's first Shark Action Plan assesses the national extinction risk for 328 cartilaginous fish species in Australian waters. The dataset includes taxa profiles for each species, with assessments applying IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria. It was published by the Australian Ocean Data Network and last updated in June 2026.
Use Cases
- Analyze species conservation status based on IUCN Red List categories for 328 species.
- Identify knowledge gaps for species based on the five themes: taxonomy, distribution, population trend, life history, and connectivity.
- Prioritize conservation actions for threatened species based on the provided action plans.
- Benchmark population changes over time using the provided risk assessments as a baseline.
Strengths
- Covers 328 distinct species, including 182 sharks, 132 rays, and 14 chimaeras.
- Provides a quantitative breakdown of extinction risk: 12% threatened, 10% Near Threatened, 70% Least Concern, 8% Data Deficient.
- Includes specific conservation actions and knowledge gap themes for each species profile.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Freshness should be verified as the last update date is in the future (2026-06-17).
Provenance
- Source
- Australian Ocean Data Network
- Collection Method
- Species extinction risk was assessed by applying the IUCN Red List Categories and Criteria at the national level.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-06-17 02:21:26.558642
- Geography
- Australian marine and inland waters, including external territories.