The Queensland Coral Fishery (QCF) is a highly selective, hand-collection fishery that harvests hard corals (order Scleractinia) from Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) World Heritage Area (WHA). Harvested corals are mostly exported for global aquarium markets, subject to approval by the Australia’s CITES Scientific Authority. Reported harvest levels increased substantially from 2017-18 until 2020-22 for several heavily targeted coral species and genera. At the same time, there were increasing extrinsic pressures (e.g., climate induced coral bleaching), which may or may not have undermined fisheries sustainability, but increased sustainability concerns and scrutiny of commercial coral harvesting. To redress escalating harvest levels of heavily harvested and potentially vulnerable coral species, prescribed harvest limits were implemented for 11 coral species and genera. The designation of prescribed harvest limits was solely based on catch history, considering the average reported harvest levels (in number of pieces) during a specified reference period (2016-17 to 2018-19). Current harvest limits do not therefore, necessarily ensure sustainability of ongoing coral harvesting. Recently implemented prescribed harvest limits represent the first taxa-specific harvest limits for the QCF and have contributed to reducing harvest levels. However, comprehensive stock assessment and monitoring is needed to establish sustainable harvest limits and ensure that commercial harvesting and export of CITES listed species does not threaten individual coral taxa, nor the structure and function of the GBR WHA.