Priorities Action Statement - Actions for Scalloped Hammerhead Shark
Recovery Actions
Collate
and review existing information
- Compile existing information on Scalloped Hammerhead Shark and identify knowledge gaps for the purpose of targeting future research activities (High priority).
Community
and stakeholder liaison, awareness and education
- Encourage community reporting of the Scalloped Hammerhead Shark via the NSW DPI Threatened and Pest Species Sightings Program online form (High priority).
- Educate fishers on how to identify Scalloped Hammerhead Shark from other Hammerhead Sharks (High priority).
- Collaborate with recreational and commercial fishing magazines to enhance publicity about Scalloped Hammerhead Shark to improve species identification, the reporting of interactions with Scalloped Hammerhead Shark, and to promote best practice techniques for handling and releasing (High priority).
- Implement education initiatives to improve awareness of the status of the Scalloped Hammerhead Shark and ways to minimise impacts on the species by preparing and distributing appropriate advisory material (Medium priority).
- Install signs and/or interpretive displays at appropriate locations to assist with identification and awareness of Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Medium priority).
- Foster long-term, two-way knowledge transfer and capacity building to enhance the role of indigenous ecological knowledge in the recovery of Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (Low priority).
Compliance
/ enforcement
- Modify fishing methods likely to induce high levels of mortality of Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks (High priority).
- Continue existing compliance operations of recreational and commercial fisheries (including AFMA accredited compliance operations of commercial managed fisheries) to reduce illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activities (High priority).
Enhance,
modify or implement NRM planning processes to minimize adverse impacts on
threatened species
- Ensure actions to reduce levels of Scalloped Hammerhead Shark mortality are considered when relevant State and territory fisheries management plans are reviewed (High priority).
- Manage fishing and the NSW Shark Meshing (Bather Protection) Program activities to mitigate impacts on the species (High priority).
- Consider existing knowledge of Scalloped Hammerhead Shark in the development of marine parks and marine estate planning decisions (Medium priority).
Research
/ monitoring
- Actively encourage community involvement in aspects of Scalloped Hammerhead Shark research and monitoring programs (High priority).
- Monitor Scalloped Hammerhead Shark population over time to assess trends in abundance and distribution and to identify emerging threatening processes (High priority).
- Undertake research to identify, prioritise and improve understanding of the threatening processes and causes of decline of Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks (High priority).
- Actively seek grants or investor partnerships to fund research and monitoring programs for Scalloped Hammerhead Shark (High priority).
- Undertake research to identify, prioritise and improve understanding of the threatening processes and causes of decline of Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks (High priority).
- Quantify Scalloped Hammerhead Shark bycatch and mortality in commercial and recreational fishing sectors (High priority).
- Conduct research on the biology and ecology of Scalloped Hammerhead Shark, particularly the species' ecological role, environmental tolerances, factors influencing population dynamics, age and growth, life cycle and diet (Medium priority).
- Continue biological recording and sampling of Scalloped Hammerhead Shark caught in shark control programs (Medium priority).
- Develop a tagging program for Scalloped Hammerhead Shark caught and released in shark control programs, in conjunction with existing programs (Medium priority).
- Examine habitat use (with a focus on identifying breeding areas, pupping grounds and juvenile aggregation sites) and regional connectivity across life history stages through the use of conventional and electronic tagging technologies including acoustic listening stations (Medium priority).
Survey / mapping
- Conduct targeted surveys to determine the current distribution and abundance of Scalloped Hammerhead Sharks (High priority).
- Collect data on the presence/absence of Scalloped Hammerhead Shark during incidental surveys (Medium priority).
