 Following the establishment of the Australian Fishing Zone (AFZ) in November 1979, the Australian government progressively excluded Taiwanese gillnet vessels from large portions of Australian waters and imposed fishing quotas.The fishery eventually became uneconomical when Australia restricted gillnet lengths to in May 1986, and Taiwanese vessels ceased fishing in Australian waters that year.At end of the fishery, Australian blacktip shark numbers were estimated to have been diminished by around 50%.