School Shark

Fishing limits

  • Minimum legal length: 45 cm measured from the 5th gill slit to the base of the tail.
  • Personal daily bag limit: combined total of 2 Gummy and School Sharks.
  • Daily boat limit: combined total of 6 Gummy and School Sharks (when 3 or more people are fishing on board).

Fishing gear restrictions apply to metropolitan shark fishing.

Identifying a School Shark

Description

School Sharks have:

  • a grey back and slender shape
  • slanted eyes
  • a second dorsal fin smaller than the first
  • a tail upper lobe larger than lower lobe
  • small sharp angular, hooked teeth with 3 large serrations.

School sharks are born at 30 cm long and grow up to ~1.9 m.

They mostly feed on squid and small to medium sized pelagic fish.

The school shark is classified as Conservation Dependent under the Australian Commonwealth Government Environmental Protection, Biodiversity and Conservation Act (EPBC Act) (1999). Fisheries that take the species as bycatch are currently managed via a stock rebuilding strategy. Bag limits must be low to ensure the recovery of the stock is successful.

Habitat

They are a highly mobile species and migrate long distances across the central and eastern Great Australian Bight.

School Sharks form aggregations and are found in gulf, shelf and shelf slope waters out to ~600 m. They are sometimes caught when targeting Snapper and Whiting in gulf and coastal waters.

Nursery areas are limited to the south-eastern Australian range. Very few juveniles (neonates) live in other southern Australian regions where mature adults tend to be caught.


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Page Last Reviewed: 11 Aug 2016
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