National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks in the Cook Islands, 2012.

This documents consists of an assessment of fisheries in the Cook Islands affecting sharks in section 1 and the actual Cook Islands National Plan of Action on sharks in section 2. The objective of the Plan is to seek and promote a rational approach, based on scientific evidence and application of the precautionary principle, to the conservation, management and optimal utilisation of shark resources in order to maintain stocks at sustainable levels and protect the biological diversity of the marine environment.
Assessment includes commercial and artisanal fishing in water of the Cook Islands as well as high seas and distant water fisheries. It also describes the legal and administrative framework governing fisheries involving sharks and the in international framework. Gaps in management to be addressed by a NPOA‐Sharks are identified.
The Plan specifies management strategies that are adopted. These strategies concern, among other things, no take of whale sharks, basking sharks or great white sharks, and no deployment of fishing gear (e.g. purse seine sets) when these species are known to be in the vicinity of fishing operations, by vessels fishing within the national waters of the Cook Islands or by Cook Islands-flagged vessels fishing outside of national waters, prohibition of commercial fishing within 12 nautical miles of the outer reef of any island of the Cook Islands and 24 nautical miles from Rarotonga, prohibition of retaining of certain species, retaining of whole sharks (to facilitate compliance with the WCPFC prohibition on shark finning), restrictions on use of gear and quantities of sharks retained on board, inclusion in all commercial licences of provisions of WCPFC CMM 2009-06 Conservation and Management Measure on Regulation of Transhipment, monitoring, data collection, research, awareness.