Recreational Harvest of Sharks and Rays in Western Australia is only a Minor Component of the Total Harvest

Abstract Sharks and rays are of global conservation concern with an increasing number of species at risk of extinction, mostly attributed to overfishing by commercial fishing. Their recreational harvest is poorly known but it can be of similar magnitude to the commercial harvest in some regions. We quantified the recreational harvest of sharks and rays in Western Australia, a region with a marine coastline of > 20,000 km. We recorded 33 species/taxonomic groups but the harvest was dominated by dusky and bronze whalers, blacktip reef shark, gummy shark, Port Jackson shark, wobbegongs, and rays and skates. Most species caught were released (85% of all individuals), although gummy and whiskery sharks were typically retained. There was a clear latitudinal gradient of species composition with tropical and subtropical species of the genus Carcharhinus dominating in the north and temperate species of the families Triakidae, Carcharhinidae, Heterodontidae and Rajidae dominating in the south. The recreational harvest was negligible compared with commercial landings. The newly available time series data can be incorporated into stock assessments to allow the quantification of recreational fishing mortality of shark and ray species and therefore comply with state, national and international initiatives for their conservation and sustainable management.