UNIT 6 ATLANTIC SHARK FISHERIES INTRODUCTION About 350 species of sharks are known worldwide. Of those, 72 frequent waters of the U.S. Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands. For many years sharks were fished moderately and only in limited coastal areas. In recent years, however, large coastal sharks have been intensively fished over broad geographic areas. Sharks were first fished primarily for their livers (for vitamin A) and hides (for leather). Other minor products were fresh and salted meat, dried fins for Oriental sharkfin soup, and fish meal. The appearance of low-cost, synthetic vitamin A ended some of the small shark fisheries in 1950, and there was little demand for shark flesh or other products in the United States before 1970. In the 1980's, however, shark has become popular due to better handling, marketing, promotion, and an economy favoring low-cost shark over more expensive fish (Fig. 6-1). Shark fishery management regulations are stipulated in a shark fishery management plan developed by the National Marine Fisheries Service for the Secretary of Commerce. SPECIES AND STATUS Under the Magnuson Fisheries Conservation and Management Act, U.S. Atlantic sharks were divided into three management groups (Table 6-1): 1) Large coastal sharks (white, tiger, lemon, smooth and great hammerhead, basking, whale, blacktip, sandbar, reef, dusky, spinner, silky, bull, bignose, Galapagos, night, ragged-tooth, nurse, and scalloped); 2) small coastal sharks (Atlantic and Caribbean sharpnose, finetooth, blacknose, bonnethead, and Atlantic angel); and 3) pelagic sharks (longfin and shortfin mako, blue, porbeagle, thresher, bigeye thresher, oceanic whitetip, sevengill, sixgill, and bigeye sixgill). Both U.S. recreational and commercial shark fishermen seek coastal sharks along the Atlantic seaboard. Pelagic sharks are targeted by tournament anglers, particularly off the Mid-Atlantic states, and are incidentally caught by swordfish and tuna longliners. The dockside ex-vessel revenue of the commercial shark fisheries has averaged more than $7 million annually in recent years. Anglers fish for sharks on both tournament and nontournament trips, the latter being the more prevalent. Nontournament anglers usually catch small coastal sharks that are generally not targeted by commercial fisheries. However, commercial and recreational fishermen can affect the shark fishing of each other. The Gulf of Mexico shrimp fishery catches and discards many small coastal sharks (mostly sharpnose). Also, headboat anglers depend on blacktip sharks, a species seasonally taken by longline and drift gillnet fishermen. Many southern shark tournament anglers also fish for the same large coastal species taken by commercial fishermen. Tournament anglers farther north (Mid-Atlantic states and southern New England) fish for shortfin mako and blue sharks that are caught incidentally by large pelagic long-line fisheries. In another twist, sharks taken by anglers along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts are often sold to commercial fish buyers (in 1986 about 9% of the commercial landings were taken by rod-and-reel fishermen). Meanwhile, a mobile longline fishery targets large coastal sharks in both Atlantic and Gulf waters, taking several species important to anglers. Fish buyers prefer sharks of 15-50 pounds (dressed weight), but larger sharks have been killed just for their fins. Other boats use gill nets, including drift gill nets, for blacktip shark near shore in late summer and early autumn. Gulf snapper-grouper boats, particularly bottom longliners, also land sharks. Many sharks caught by Gulf shrimp trawlers are discarded at sea (though fins may be saved), but large valuable sharks are kept and sold. Many sharks are also caught in the pelagic swordfish and tuna longline fishery. Some sharks are discarded at sea, though certain species such as shortfin mako are regularly landed owing to their market value. The data available on shark fisheries are very limited. Many species are landed and classified only as shark by fishermen and dealers in the market. To overcome some of these data deficiencies, newly developed assessment models were applied to the data available to generate assessment information by group: Large coastal sharks are considered overutilized; small coastal sharks are considered fully utilized. There is insufficient information to assess the status of pelagic sharks. ISSUES Scientific Information and Adequacy of Assessments Many species of shark are fished and many are difficult to distinguish. The market generally does not categorize sharks by species. This complicates scientific analysis, although assessments for groups of species have been made. There is a critical lack of data on shark numbers, biology, distribution, life history, and harvest. Without such data, it is difficult to assess the status of particular species. Management Concerns Recreational and commercial fishermen have both voiced concern about declining shark populations. Because sharks grow and reproduce slowly, they are very vulnerable to overfishing. Progress A new fishery management plan has been developed by NMFS for sharks and was implemented in 1993. It regulates commercial and recreational shark fishing to prevent overfishing, prohibit the practice of finning, discourage discarding of shark carcasses, rebuild currently overfished stocks, and improve data collection and monitoring.