Journal article
Using rapid assessment and demographic methods to evaluate the effects of fishing on Heterodontus portusjacksoni off far-eastern Victoria, Australia
J Tovar-Avila, RW Day, TI Walker
JOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY | WILEY-BLACKWELL | Published : 2010
Abstract
A rapid semi-quantitative ecological risk assessment method (productivity and susceptibility analysis) indicated that, despite its low biological productivity, the Port Jackson shark Heterodontus portusjacksoni is at low risk to all fishing methods in far-eastern Victoria, Australia, under the present fishing practices, because of its low catch susceptibility. The risk to this population, however, would increase if the shark gillnet fishery operating in the region were to retain the species as a by-product. Demographic analysis indicated that the species has medium intrinsic population growth rate and potential rebound in comparison with other chondrichthyan species, juveniles have higher el..
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Awarded by Australian Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Funding Acknowledgements
We thank the anonymous reviewers who improved this paper with their detailed comments and corrections. Thanks to E. Cortes (Southeast Fisheries Science Center, NOAA, U. S. A.) who kindly provided the risk assessment software used to incorporate uncertainty in the demographic model and M. Braccini who provided advice on its use. This research was supported by an Australian Fisheries Research and Development Corporation grant (FRDC Project 2003/023 to T. I. W.). The first author was supported by a Postgraduate Scholarship from the National Science and Technology Council (CONACyT) and the National Fisheries Institute (INAPESCA) from Mexico.