Rare and Illegal Shark Catch
THE ILLEGAL CAPTURE OF THE ENDANGERED GREY NURSE SHARK AT CORNERS INLET
Grey nurse sharks are very uncommon in Victorian waters and are a protected species.
It’s extremely disappointing to hear that an individual was illegally caught at Corners Inlet. There has been only been a handful of sightings in this state. Along the East coast of Australia they are considered as a discrete sub-population with an estimated 500 individual sharks remaining!
They are also a ‘species of interest’ with a citizen scientist program called REDMAP which collects data marine species that are rare or unusual along our coast. If you do spot a grey nurse shark in Victoria take a photo and log a report via their website or phone app http://www.redmap.org.au
We don’t know all the facts in this case, but if you ever catch anything fishing that you can’t 100% identify, take a quick photo and release it back to the water immediately.
