A well-known and abundant temperate species, with no evidence of population decline in most of its range.

Surveys of shark population abundance caught as part of the Gillnet, Hook and Trap Sector (GHAT) (part of the Southern and Eastern Scalefish and Shark Fishery, SESSF) indicate that the number of Port Jackson Sharks in Bass Strait declined from 701 individuals caught per 1,000 km lift hours (standard error; s.e. = 180) in 1973-76 to 169 (s.e. = 40) in 1998-2001 (Braccini et al. 2009). The most recent survey performed in 2007-08 reported 204 individuals per 1,000 km lift hours (s.e. = 75) and suggest that the decline has now ceased (Braccini et al. 2009). Overall, this represents an estimated population decline of 70.9% in 36 years. However, standardised catch per unit effort from the Integrated Scientific Monitoring Program (ISMP) data of the Great Australian Bight and Commonwealth Trawl Sectors between 1994 and 2006 does not show any declining trends (Walker and Gason 2007). This is supported by a rapid semi-quantitative ecological risk assessment method indicating that the Port Jackson Shark is at low risk to all fishing methods in far-eastern Victoria because of its low catch susceptibility (Tovar-Avila et al. 2010).

Differences in growth curves have been documented between the Port Jackson Shark from the two biogeographic zones suggested by O'Gower and Nash (1978). However, length ranges and size at maturity overlapped between bioregions, not supporting the presence of subpopulations across the distribution of the Port Jackson Shark (Izzo and Rodda 2012). Recent tracking data, however, suggests high site fidelity, with only ~15% of individuals migrating (C. Brown and N. Bass, pers. comm., February 2015). Genetics analyses are currently underway to assess the population structure of Port Jackson Sharks (C. Brown and N. Bass, pers. comm., February 2015).