Jaime McAllister
Introductory PhD seminar
Friday, 14 October, 1:00-1:30 PM
IMAS Seminar Room, Sandy Bay

Abstract:
Concern over the continued overexploitation and decline of global shark populations has led to a greater interest in their conservation and management.  Spatial management such as marine reserves have long been used to provide sanctuary and protection for marine species however due to the highly migratory nature of sharks they are generally only applied to early life history stages in the form of shark nursery areas.  Nursery areas provide a sanctuary where young sharks are born and spend the first few years of life.  However, it has been argued that many protected areas have lacked credible evidence to support their justification as a nursery area.  This is a result of having little understanding of how and when a shark uses those areas.  The school shark is a prime example of a species which have suffered significant population declines and are a species which have a strong nursery area component.  However, the functional role of some nursery areas has been questioned as stocks continue to decline in Australian waters.  Recovery efforts are currently hinged on identifying and protecting undesignated nursery areas however there has also been some criticism that many designated areas do not act as nurseries and should be reopened to fishing. Despite these uncertainties the relative contribution of designated shark nurseries compared to un-protected areas has not been addressed and there has been no assessment of school shark nurseries since the 1990’s.  Therefore this study aims to determine the functional role of designated shark nursery areas for the protection and conservation of school sharks and other elasmobranch species.  It will use a combination of traditional fishery assessment techniques and make use of recent developments in electronic tools such as acoustic and satellite tracking, and baited underwater video to examine movement behaviours and address these questions. It is anticipated that through an improved understanding of shark movement behaviours, the effectiveness and impact of spatial management strategies can be assessed and refined where necessary.  This presentation will provide an overview of my proposed research objectives and will detail the chosen methodologies I will be using throughout my PhD.