2015
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About this document
This document constitutes the Australian National Recovery Plan for the largetooth sawfish (formerly known as the freshwater sawfish), green sawfish, dwarf sawfish, speartooth shark and the northern river shark (Sawfish and River Sharks Multispecies Recovery Plan). This recovery plan considers the conservation requirements of these species across their range, and identifies the actions to be taken to ensure their long-term viability in nature and the parties that will undertake those actions.
The three sawfish species are listed as vulnerable under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Northern river sharks are listed as endangered and speartooth sharks as critically endangered.
This recovery plan sets out the research and management actions necessary to stop the decline of, and support the recovery of, these five species in Australian waters. The overarching objective of this recovery plan is to assist the recovery of these species in the wild throughout their range in Australian waters by increasing their total population size, with a view to:
- improving the population status leading to the removal of these species from the protected species list of the EPBC Act
- ensuring that anthropogenic activities do not hinder recovery in the near future, or impact on the conservation status of the species in the future.
This recovery plan should be read in conjunction with the accompanying issues paper which has been developed to provide background information on the biology, population status and threats to the species.