Central Great Barrier Reef shark nursery area survey (NERP TE 6.2, JCU), Australia (2011-2014)

This dataset contains the catch data from seasonal gillnet and longline surveys of shark nursery areas in the Central Section of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (2011-2014). Sampling occurred seasonally in nine bays along ~ 400 km of the tropical north Queensland coastline: Rockingham, Halifax, Cleveland, Bowling Green, Upstart, Abbott, Edgecumbe, Woodwark/Double and Repulse Bays. Of these nine bays, five were sampled regularly, the others (in italics) were sampled only once as part of a broader survey. Sampling sites were dominated by silty substrates, and mudflat and/or mangrove-lined foreshores. Between October 2011 and November 2013 eight rounds of fisheries-independent surveys were undertaken to collect data on the shark community across the study region. Within each bay sampling occurred randomly within sixteen 0.9 km wide strips running perpendicular to the shore. Two groups of eight strips were placed within each bay to spread the sampling across different habitat types and management zones (i.e. gill-net fishing allowed and gill-net fishing prohibited) where possible. During each round, each bay was sampled over four days allowing for two days of sampling in each group of strips. The bays vary in size and so the relative proportion of area sampled varied between bays.