Observation of localised movements and residence times of the wobbegong shark Orectolobus halei at Fish Rock, NSW, Australia by Charlie HUVENEERS (1), Robert G. HARCOURT (1) & Nicholas M. OTWAY (2) ABSTRACT. - Passive acoustic telemetry was used to assess the localised movements of seven individuals of the wobbe- gong shark Orectolobus halei for about two years at Fish Rock, NSW, Australia. Four of the seven sharks were detected for less than 40 days only; this was most likely due to tag loss, although emigration of these individuals cannot be dismissed. Three sharks were regularly detected for periods of 4, 10 and 20 months suggesting longer-term residency. Wobbegongs were mostly detected around the southern side of Fish Rock by one or two receivers. Diel patterns were also observed with a greater presence of sharks during daylight hours than at night. The long-term residency pattern displayed by three of the sharks suggests that temporal closures or marine protected areas may be effective tools for the management and conserva- tion of local populations. RÉSUMÉ. - Observation des déplacements locaux et des temps de résidence du requin-tapis Orectolobus halei à Fish Rock, NSW, Australie. Des balises acoustiques passives ont été utilisées pour estimer les déplacements locaux de sept individus d’Orectolobus halei durant deux ans à Fish Rock, NSW. Quatre des sept requins ont été détectés pendant moins de 40 jours seulement ; cela était probablement dû au détachement des balises, bien que l’émigration de ces individus ne puisse être rejetée. Trois requins ont été détectés régulièrement pendant des périodes de 4, 10 et 20 mois, indiquant une résidence à long terme. Les requins-tapis étaient principalement détectés du côté sud de Fish Rock par seulement un ou deux récepteurs. Des mouve- ments journaliers ont été observés, les requins étant plus souvent détectés le jour que la nuit. La résidence observée par trois des requins-tapis indique que les zones protégées ou fermées temporairement peuvent contribuer à la conservation des populations locales. Key words. - Orectolobidae - Orectolobus halei - Wobbegong sharks - NSW - Australia - Fish Rock - Acoustic telemetry. Cybium 2006, 30(4) suppl.: 103-111. (1) Marine Mammal Research Group, Graduate School of the Environment, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, 2109, AUSTRALIA. [charlie.huveneers@gse.mq.edu.au] (2) NSW Department of Primary Industries, Port Stephens Fisheries Centre, Taylors Beach Road, Taylors Beach, NSW, 2316, AUSTRALIA. Wobbegong sharks (Orectolobidae) are bottom-dwelling sharks found in temperate to tropical continental waters of the western Pacific (Compagno, 2001). While there are taxo- nomic uncertainties, eight different species are currently found worldwide with seven of them in Australian waters. Previously two species of wobbegongs, Orectolobus macu - latus (Bonnaterre, 1788) and O. ornatus (De Vis, 1883), were known to occur in New South Wales (NSW) waters (Last and Stevens, 1994; Compagno, 2001). However, O. ornatus has recently been found to comprise two distinct species differing in their morphometric and meristic mea- surements as well as their biology (Huveneers, 2006). Orec - tolobus ornatus grows to about 110 cm total length (TL) while Orectolobus halei can grow to 300 cm TL. Wobbegongs have been commercially targeted in NSW by the ocean trap and line fishery since 1991 and sold as ‘ boneless fillets’ or ‘ flakes’. The catch has declined from about 152 tons in 1990/01 to approximately 72 tons in 1999/00, a decrease of more than 50% in a decade (NSW Department of Primary Industries, unpublished data). Little information has been collected on this fishery and thus, the extent to which this decline may be attributed to changes in fishing effort is unclear. Furthermore, as the catch is not identified to species, it is not known whether this declining trend is consistent among the three species. Despite this, concerns that this overall decline may be indicative of changes in wobbegong abundance along the NSW coast led to wobbegongs being listed as ‘ Vulnerable’ in NSW under the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List assessment (Cavanagh et al., 2003). Given the decline in landed catch, there appears to be a clear need to ensure that basic ecological and biological data are available for use in management of the wobbegong fish- ery. Quantitative data on the ecology of marine vertebrates such as habitat utilisation, dispersal, periodicity of move- ments, residence times and home ranges can augment under- standing of the spatial dynamics of fisheries and guide man- agement and conservation strategies (Economakis and