Recovery planning strategies for Greynurse Shark
Summary
National recovery planning strategies
The Greynurse Shark is listed as two separate populations under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The east coast population is listed as critically endangered and the west coast population is listed as vulnerable. In 2002, the Department of the Environment, in collaboration with State Government agencies, prepared a National Recovery Plan for Greynurse Shark to promote the recovery of the two populations. However, a review of the National Recovery plan in 2009 found no evidence to suggest there had been a recovery in the Greynurse Shark populations and recommended that a new recovery plan be developed to remove completed actions and include new conservation priorities. The NSW Department of Primary Industries collaborated with the Department of the Environment to produce the National Recovery Plan for Greynurse Sharks which was released as a final plan in 2014.
State recovery planning strategies
The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) also prepared a State Greynurse Shark Draft Recovery Plan (PDF, 2198.84 KB) in 2002, however, before the document was finalised the government commenced a process for amending threatened species legislation in NSW. In 2004, the NSW State Government amended the Fisheries Management Act 1994 as part of a broader natural resource management reform package. The amendments included a requirement for the Director-General of DPI to prepare and adopt Priorities Action Statements (PAS) for threatened species, populations, ecological communities and key threatening processes.
A PAS has been developed for the Greynurse Shark which replaces the 2002 State Greynurse Shark Draft Recovery Plan. It contains a species profile and strategies to be adopted to promote the recovery of Greynurse Sharks. The overall objective of the PAS is to ensure the recovery and ongoing viability of Greynurse Shark populations along the NSW coast. The PAS actions for Greynurse Shark prioritise the actions contained within the National Recovery Plan for the species.
