Recent risk assessment work for elasmobranchs caught in marine fisheries has highlighted their vulnerability to fishing pressure and many species are now a high priority for research and management attention. This, combined with their key ecological role, and an increasing community awareness and attention on the sustainability of shark fisheries; as well as the need for increasingly efficient use of fisheries research funding, demonstrates the need for a defined framework for shark fishery RD&E, both nationally and regionally, and at a tactical and strategic level.

There is also a requirement to co-ordinate FRDC investments in RD&E projects for shark-associated fisheries with key national investments in infrastructure such as the IMOS Australian Acoustic Tagging and Monitoring System. The huge distances moved by individual sharks and the widely dispersed nature of many shark populations will require cross-jurisdictional research and management responses that should be informed by these new technological opportunities.

Given the constraints for fisheries RD&E funding, and recognising the business challenges confronting many fishing operators, shark related fishery RD&E must reflect management priorities and help deliver practical cost-effective solutions to identified problems. Furthermore, projects must demonstrate strong and relevant collaboration, both for efficiency and development of RD&E capacity. Without these, and other key attributes, shark-oriented RD&E will not achieve its potential to drive demonstrable improvements in management outcomes for these species and fisheries.