The international ornamental and aquarium coral trade involves the annual sale of hundreds of thousands of small scleractinian coral pieces, the majority of which are still harvested from the wild. Pervasive and accelerating degradation of coral reef ecosystems has placed increasing environmental, public, and political pressure on extractive industries that make use of these environments. Coral loss resulting from highly selective and overseen fisheries, such as the state managed coral fisheries of Australia, is typically considered negligible compared to other recurrent large-scale disturbances. However, as hard corals are listed in appendix II of the Convention for the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), continued export of Australian corals relies on demonstration of no detrimental effects on the viability and persistence of targeted species (i.e. non-detriment finding; NDF). Under increasing scrutiny, the lack of species-specific resolution and ecological context for harvest/export derived data has the potential to undermine effective management of these fisheries and endanger future NDFs. To address this, we established size-weight relationships that allow initial estimates of harvestable biomass for some commonly targeted corals and coral growth forms. This work represents an important first step in developing a viable management strategy for these fisheries, in Australia and globally.