Reproductive biology of a bamboo shark as a framework for better fisheries management

The brown-banded bamboo shark, Chiloscyllium punctatum, is one of the most common sharks caught in coastal fisheries across Southeast Asia; however, its small size and low economic value typically exclude it from the attention of fisheries managers. As part of an assessment of a potential role for this shark in improving the sustainability of coastal shark fisheries in Indonesia, we investigated its reproductive biology from waters around the Seribu Islands on the basis of monthly sampling from a fish landing in Tanjung Pasir, Banten. Females have fully functional uteri, but asymmetric ovaries, with only the right ovary being functional and the left ovary being atrophied. The species is reproductively active throughout the year, with the optimum period for males to copulate being from June to August, and the optimum period for egg-laying in females from July to January on the basis of their physiological condition. Females mature at a larger size than do males, 704- and 653-mm total length respectively. To allow a continuous recruitment flow to the population, and to facilitate compliance and monitoring, we recommend that fishers release all brown-banded bamboo sharks greater than 700mm in total length.