BBC – Sharkatag
Jun 12th, 2009 | By ssacn | Category: SSACN AnnouncementsFrom this BBC News item.
A Sharkatag event is currently under way in the waters off the Dumfries and Galloway Coast. Organised by the Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network, it hopes to provide valuable data on shark numbers and behaviour.
BBC News Scotland correspondent Lorna Gordon joins a group of anglers in pursuit of an unusual catch.
I have come to join some anglers for the day who are in pursuit of a rather unusual catch. Paul Maris and Dave Hawkeswood travel all over the world in search of big fish.
They have come to Luce Bay, in south west Scotland, because it is an area considered a hot spot for one particular type of shark. They are hoping to catch, and release, some tope which is Britain’s largest native inshore shark and it can grow up to two metres in length.
Our skipper for the day, Ian Burrett, says there used to be 18 species of shark in the waters around Britain but many of them are now in trouble and that, he says, includes the tope.
So it is just possible that today’s mission to find some may be a slow process.
As Paul Maris points out, "the hard bit is catching them…".
To a non-angler like me, the key seems to be to find the mackerel, and then just maybe you may find the sharks which like the taste of the little fish. We were lucky, within half an hour a young one – perhaps a year old – had taken a bite of the bait.
They have to be handled gently. Tope have extremely sharp teeth, they also have very rough skin which is almost like sandpaper, and once they are caught the priority is to ensure both angler and fish remain unharmed.
So, in as short a period of time as possible, the first tope of the day is tagged and then gently released back into the water. This is, according to our anglers, the reason all the waiting is worthwhile.
Conservationists believe the number of tope has declined dramatically in recent years, and they are now classed as endangered. But they’re hoping for more evidence to back up their theories, and so are encouraging anglers to take part in a tagging event to tag as many sharks as possible.
Ian Burrett says it’s already revealed some interesting information.
He believes they are creatures of habit.
Trawler catch
One fish was re-caught at the very same spot four years to the day from when it was first tagged. This is a fish which is believed to be migratory – swimming more than 3,000km to as far as the Azores.
Much of the information about tagged fish comes from trawlers – that’s where they often end up.
Although they are known as soupfin shark; part of the reason their numbers have declined so dramatically is that they are a by-catch. As all sharks mature slowly they are vulnerable to overfishing.
England and Wales have given the tope full protection, Scotland has not.
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