Spottail Shark (Carcharhinus sorrah) is a tropical Indo-Pacific species, recorded patchily from South Africa to southern China, and common on continental and insular shelves close inshore (20-50 m), occurring out to 140 m.

Recent research has found that Carcharhinus sorrah occurring in Indonesian and Australian Waters form two distinct populations (Ovenden et al. 2009). One single genetic stock is considered to occur in Australian waters. Map for species distribution in Australia adapted from Last and Stevens (2009).

Australian gillnetters began fishing in northern Australian waters in about 1980, although there was significant fishing from foreign vessels before then, and foreign gillnetting continued until 1986. The Northern Shark Fishery was developed during the 1980s and 1990s, and was transferred to the relevant joint authorities in 1995 (Patterson et al. 2016).

It includes the Northern Territory Offshore Net and Line Fishery, the Queensland Gulf of Carpentaria Inshore Fin Fish Fishery and the Western Australia Joint Authority Northern Shark Fishery (WANSF). The fishery covers waters off Australia’s northern coast, encompassing the Gulf of Carpentaria, the Timor and Arafura seas, Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, and the north-east coast of Western Australia. Regularly taken as utilized bycatch of longlines, gillnets, trawls and other line gear (Patterson et al. 2016).