Nurse Sharks are managed as part of the Large Coastal Species complex in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico waters of the United States.

The Colombian government is considering a ban on the G. cirratum fishery together with an extensive habitat protection campaign (Mejia et al. 2002).

The species was listed as Vulnerable in São Paulo State (Brazil) by participants at a workshop organized by the State Secretary of the Environment (SEMA/SP) using IUCN criteria. (São Paulo 1998), and later assessed as Vulnerable in Brazil by a commission of the Brazilian Society for the Study of Elasmobranchs (SBEEL) in 2002, also using IUCN Red List criteria. Its inclusion in the Official List of Endangered Animals in Brazil as a Vulnerable species was recommended to the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment in 2003.

Conservation measures should include:

Establishment of no fishing marine conservation units, encompassing reef formations, which include mating and breeding grounds; regulation of spear-fishing activity, both commercial and sporting, with restriction of capture; regulation of the marine ornamental fish trade, with restriction of capture; bycatch control, with mandatory release of live by-caught individuals; and, development and effective implementation of management plans (national and/or regional e.g., under the FAO International Plan of Action for the Conservation and Management of Sharks: IPOA-Sharks) in order to facilitate the conservation and sustainable management of all chondrichthyan species in the region. See Anon. (2004) for an update of progress made by nations in the range of G. cirratum.