May 17, 2010

In 1978, a good eight years before I went fulltime in the charter fishing business, I got involved with tagging sharks by signing up with NOAA's Cooperative Shark Tagging Program. I still recall the satisfaction of planting the first tag and knowing that the act could provide biologists with data that could somehow help sharks. Tagging added a new dimension to fishing that I had never known before, every catch had more significance than just another struggle on the line followed by clip of the leader because when they swam away with our tag - our mark, they would, in a way, still be our fish, and if someone caught them ten days or ten years later and chose to report the tag we'd get credit for catching it first and we'd hear from NOAA the details about who recaptured it, where it was taken, and how big it had grown.

I don't know what happened to that first shark because we never did hear that it was recaptured, but we sure have heard about others! Since we started tagging we've had recaptures off the coast of every state along the East and Gulf Coast, Mexico, Cuba, the North Atlantic, Spain, and the Azores. As our involvement with shark fishing and tagging increased so did our relationships with various biologists and fishery managers doing shark research who have occasionally solicited help with various projects or studies. Over the years we've had requests for catch data, tissue samples, stomach samples, teeth, entire sharks, assistance with hook studies, and the making of documentary and educational films. These projects have provided some interesting and unique educational experiences for myself and my charter clients, and our willingness to assist seems to have had a bit of a snowball effect in that the requests for help seem to be on the rise.

I just sent a letter out to our 2010 shark fishing clients giving them a heads-up as to what we'll be doing on the boat this year and it wasn't until I put it all down on paper that I realized just how busy we were going to be. The following is our project list:

#1 Send a couple makos to Florida. Biologists at a shark research facility in Florida are conducting a dermal denticle (shark skin) project to examine the possible role that shark skin denticles play in improving the hydro-dynamics of the shark's ability to swim. To do this they need one or two complete (dead) mako sharks to study. We've been asked to assist them by acquiring these sharks and shipping them to Florida.

#2 Tagging mako and blue sharks with satellite tags. A biologist will occasionally ride along with us to plant electronic tags in mako and blue sharks. These tags will communicate with satellites and allow researchers to track the sharks after release and provide information on movements and post-release survival.

#3 Taking fin clips for DNA analysis. Many of the shark we catch this year will have a very small bit of their dorsal fin clipped off and put in a vial that will be sent to labs for DNA analysis. The data from this analysis will assist ongoing projects designed to help researchers better understand the distribution and movements of sharks by examining if (or how) similar species of sharks found in different locations are related.

#4 The "Blocker" study. Even though we use circle hooks we've come to realize that occasionally we still end up hooking sharks in the stomach. A couple years ago we started developing and experimenting with a new type of rig that would prevent sharks from swallowing the baits and being hooked anywhere but in the corners of their mouths. We've had very good success with our "blocker-rig" which has now peaked the interest of some biologists and marine managers. A Biology graduate student has taken our blocker-rig on as a project and this year will be working with us and conducting more formal trials with the rig to determine its ability to eliminate gut-hooking without sacrificing hook-up success.

#5 Tagging and injecting. Besides being tagged, most of the sharks we release are also injected with oxytetracycline (OTC) which is an antibiotic used in veterinary medicine. We inject the sharks with OTC not for the antibiotic qualities but for the side affect that it stains on the shark's vertebrae. If an injected shark is ever recaptured and biologists are able to examine the vertebrae they can measure how much it grew from the time we originally stained it. This will provide them with information that might some day allow them to accurately determine the age of a shark simply by measuring the vertebrae.

As a fisherman and charter captain trying to run a business, being involved with this "extra curricular activity" can be a bit of a pain sometime - it doesn't pay a thing, it usually requires a lot of record-keeping, and following set procedures can sometimes be challenging when you're also trying to catch fish and keep six (paying) clients happy with their day on the water. But over all I've found that the hassles have been well worth the benefits of the increased knowledge I've gained along the way and the satisfaction of knowing that somehow our efforts might play a part in providing a better understanding of sharks and better management of our marine resources.

Other fishermen who would like to get involved with shark research should consider being a part of the Cooperative Shark Tagging Program run by NOAA. A visit to the NOAA Apex Predator Investigation website (http://na.nefsc.noaa.gov/sharks/) will provide all the information needed to acquire shark tags and tagging instructions.

Also, if anyone is interested in trying out or hearing more about the "blocker-rig" we've developed to prevent sharks from being hooked in the gut, they should contact me at ModernSharking@Gmail.com or call me in the evening at 410-213-2442.

Finally, with shark season finally underway we need to get those two makos as soon as possible for the research being done in Florida. If anyone catches a keeper size mako (of modest size - NOT a monster) that they would like to donate please contact me. I've already made arrangements to freeze the shark and we'll take care of shipping it, all we need is a couple fresh specimens that haven't been torn up in the landing process. Anglers should contact me before they boat such a shark to ensure that we haven't already met the need.