Baited drumlines were employed to assess the relative abundance and demographics of sharks in three distinct but contiguous areas of the sublittoral environment of the eastern Caicos Bank, with a view to equipping policy-makers in the Turks and Caicos Islands with information pertinent to the conservation of local shark populations. Overall, the catch was dominated by nurse Ginglymostoma cirratum and Caribbean reef Carcharhinus perezi sharks, but tiger Galeocerdo cuvier, lemon Negaprion brevirostris, blacknose Carcharhinus acronotus and great hammerhead Sphyrna mokarran sharks were also captured. Size distributions were consistent with a combination of sexually mature and immature animals for most of these species. The results confirm that shallow sand flat, deep sand flat and coral reef environments are utilised by a variety of shark species and life stages, including the movement of individuals between these areas. Therefore, current marine protected areas in the Turks and Caicos Islands, which mostly centre on nearshore and coral reef environments, probably afford local shark populations only partial protection.

使用诱饵鼓线来评估东凯科斯海岸三个不同但相邻的沿海地区鲨鱼的相对丰度和人口统计数据，以期为特克斯和凯科斯群岛的决策者提供与保护鲨鱼有关的信息当地鲨鱼种群。总体而言，捕捞量主要是Ninglymostoma cirratum和加勒比珊瑚礁Carcharhinus perezi鲨鱼，但老虎Galeocerdo cuvier、柠檬Negaprion brevirostris、blacknose Carcharhinus acronotus和双髻鲨Sphyrna mokarran鲨鱼也被捕获。对于这些物种中的大多数，大小分布与性成熟和未成熟动物的组合一致。结果证实，浅沙滩、深沙滩和珊瑚礁环境被各种鲨鱼物种和生命阶段所利用，包括个体在这些区域之间的移动。因此，目前特克斯和凯科斯群岛的海洋保护区，主要集中在近岸和珊瑚礁环境，可能只能为当地鲨鱼种群提供部分保护。