Welcome to the discussion, I shall return again from my hiatus for you.
I agree with you that Australia is good at maintaining fish stocks.
What is your view point on what is happening world wide as far as overfishing/by-catch levels are concerned Ean??
I am by no means an expert, but am curious to gain an insight from someone in the industry.
As far as supporting documentation for shark survival rates are concerned, this is all I can pull ATM from the abstract of this document.
A green strategy for shark attack mitigation off Recife, Brazil - Hazin - 2013 - Animal Conservation - Wiley Online Library
'During 8 years, the SMPR caught fish and turtles only and showed high selectivity for sharks compared with shark meshing. Target species comprised carcharhinids and sphyrnids and accounted for 7% of total catch. The fishing mortality of abundant taxa was generally low except for Carcharhinus acronotus and Gymnothorax spp., and protected species had ∼100% survival. The shark attack rate diminished about 97% while fishing operations were being conducted (W = 1108.5, P < 0.001), whereas no-fishing periods and the period prior to the implementation of the SMPR had similar shark attack rates. Overall, the SMPR seems to be less detrimental than shark meshing strategies while clearly contributing for enhancing bather safety; thus, it may provide an effective, ecologically balanced tool for assisting in shark attack mitigation.'
I can try and access to this document using alternate methods, try and get some rock solid numbers on this.
edit - i have just looked at a quick at MSC...
I take my hat off to you mate, this is the sort of practice that should be promoted world wide.
This makes me happy.