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Shark Type Species
The Shark Trust is the UK charity for shark conservation. The
Trust works to advance the worldwide conservation of sharks through
science, education, influence and action.
Sharks rank amongst the
most endangered species on the planet. As apex predators sharks fulfil a
key role in marine ecosystems. Did you know between 50 and 70 million
sharks are caught each year world wide. Thirty percent of EU and fifty
percent of UK shark species are listed as threatened and some species
are reported to have declined by ninety nine percent. Populations
continue to decline under the intense pressure of unmanaged modern
fisheries practices, driven by global consumer demand for shark based
products.
We would like all members to record their sightings of sharks, rays and skate catches and submit them to Committee Member Si Clark
who will then report them to the Shark Trust to help build up their
database of the species in the Bristol Channel. Use the following links
to identify the exact species before recording them. Submitting your
sightings not only lets you share with the world the animals you have
seen, but also generates important data for researchers and
conservationists working with sharks, skates and rays around the world.
Your sightings will contribute to the understanding of many species,
providing some of the best available data for their management, helping
ensure a sustainable future for sharks, skates and rays. All Oystercat
fishing trips will be doing their part by recording catches and then
submitting them to the Shark Trust.For more information go to the Shark
Trust Website
Shark
Fact Sheets
The Shark Trusts shark fact sheets provide detailed
species information and includes a full reference list for further
reading.
Each factsheet includes the species; scientific name,
common name, distribution, appearance, similar species and teeth. An
ecology and biology section includes information about their habitat,
diet, reproduction and commercial importance, threats conservation,
legislation, IUCN Red List Assessment and handling advice.
You download
individual fact sheets for the 35 species of shark encountered in
British and Irish waters, as well as 19 other species recorded
elsewhere in the North East Atlantic. Examples below.
Blue shark
Porbeagle shark
Thresher shark
Shortfin Makro shark
Smoothhound
Starry-Smoothhound
Tope
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Ray and Skate Species
Ray and Skate Fact sheets
The Shark
Trust’s skate and ray fact sheets provide detailed species
information and includes a full reference list for further
reading.
Each fact sheet includes the species; scientific name,
common name, distribution, appearance, similar species and teeth. An
ecology and biology section includes information about their habitat,
diet, reproduction and commercial importance, threats conservation,
legislation, IUCN Red List Assessment and handling advice.
You can download
individual fact sheets for the 21 species of skate and ray encountered
in British and Irish waters below.
Examples below:
Common skate
Long-nosed skate
Blonde ray
Cuckoo ray
Sandy ray
Small-eyed ray
Spotted ray
Starry ray
Thornback ray
Undulate ray
MarLIN Recording
The
Club is also participating in a Marine Fish Recording Scheme project to
collect and make available information on the distribution and
occurrence of marine and estuarine fish in that part of the Bristol
Channel fished by Club members.
These reports are put into a database, which is accessible through a bespoke MMBFC group account on the Internet. A few reports may need to remain confidential for conservation or other reasons.
This
scheme, which is managed by MarLIN and backed by the Marine Biological
Association of the United Kingdom, will help scientists assess the
present status of British marine fish and detect changes that may occur
through human impacts or climatic factors. Historical records will be
especially useful.
Every
member be they boat angler, shore fisherman and even when walking on
the cliff top or beach can help by reporting fish and other marine
life they see to this scheme. Sightings can be submitted via a manual
recording form available from the Clubhouse and on the Club boat. Or, click here to
bring up a PDF copy of the form for printing out and then using. Once
developed it will be possible to enter the information online.
MarLIN also encourages volunteer recording through their Sealife Survey on-line recording scheme and through a 24 hour recording hotline - 01752 255026. MarLIN
disseminates the information widely and provides feedback through the
Web site. After validation and verification, records are put on-line and
are passed to the NBN Gateway. Go to www.marlin.ac.uk to register, after which you can start entering your catch and shightings information.
MarLIN's
role is to help develop common standards, provide resources, link to
other schemes, encourage and develop volunteer recorders and to ensure
accessibility to data by identifying and accessing data sets
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Tope Monitoring (Tag A Shark)
A programme aimed at trying to establish the status of Tope in Welsh Waters. Tope sharks are
listed as vulnerable worldwide by the International Union for
Conservation of Nature (UCN) and protected in Wales by the Tope Prohibition of Fishing (Wales) Order 2008
. They are also listed in Section 42 of the NERC Act 2006 which enables
local authorities to establish action plans with the aim of achieving
and maintaining favourable conservation status for Tope. Little is
currently known about the population of Tope in Welsh waters and as a
Club of sea anglers we have and can keep records of the fish we catch
and are willing to share this information with regard to Tope for this
particular project. It would be helpful if members could help us to
collect the following essential information with regard to
Tope:
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Fork
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Length (measured from nose to fork)
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Total Length (measured from nose to end of caudal fin/tail)
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Girth (measured around the deepest part of the body)
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Weight
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Sex
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Location where caught (Latitude/Longitude).
Tope
exhibit a typical elasmobranch life history strategy demonstrating slow
growth, late maturity and the production of small litter sizes (6-52
pups). Tope can live in excess of 50 years. At less than 2 meters in
length the Tope is a moderate sized shark; it is very active and
recorded as making migrations of up to 1600km. Pregnant females have
been reported to move into shallow bays and estuaries to pup and the
juveniles remain in inshore nursery grounds for up to two years. Tope
may display single sex and size aggregation which can exacerbate any
impacts from directed fisheries.
If you do happen to catch Blue Sharks,
Porbeagle Shark, Smoothhound, Bull Huss or Spurdog record their details
also and let us know. Further information can be obtained from Jenni
Hartley, Marine Biodiversity Officer, Fisheries Unit, Swansea.
Ray Tagging
Working
in collaboration with the South Wales Fisheries Committee (SWFC) and
Swansea University we are involved in a ray tagging programme within the
Bristol Channel. The main aim of the programme is ti investigate the
migration patterns of juvenile rays. This work relies heavily on the
support of leisure anglers and as such the Club has been issued with an
Information Return Pack from Jo Bayes of SWSF. The information that
needs to be recorded is as follows:
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Tag identification number (e.g. T9991 or P0001) see photo below.
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Date and location of capture
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Nose to tail length and/or wing width
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Comments on the condition of the ray.
Tagging
is the only method which offers the ability to gain an insight into the
life history characteristics, migration movements and stock
fluctuations of rays without killing them. The feedback received from
the project on the fish we catch is very interesting, knowing where our
fish was last caught and how much it has grown increases our enjoyment
of the sport as each tagged fish we catch has a story, and each tag we
put in is the start of another one.
The
SWSFC was granted £336,816 (75% from EU FIFG and 25% WAG) to purchase
for return to the sea of up to 24,000 female lobsters with a V-cut tail
notch over the course of three years. The landing of such lobsters was
made illegal under SFC bye-law and more recently National legislation,
and they act as a continuing brood stock to maintain the stocks.
About 30,000 V-notched lobsters have been returned to the sea which would otherwise have found their way to market.
Science: As
part of the scheme some extra scientific work was undertaken. Paid for
and returned lobsters are being banded and / or tagged. The blue or
white (according to area of release) claw bands not only allow fishermen
to identify V notched lobsters more easily, but allow their general
movements to be tracked.
Cutting the notch in a female Arrow points to the female's
lobster cut notch
Cloured claw band (blue). Lobster streamer tagging
Other two bands removed
before releasing
Furthermore a 1000 lobsters will additionally have an
individually numbered orange streamer tag attached to their underside.
This will allow the movements of individual lobsters to be tracked as
they get recaptured and reported.
Dr Andy Woolmer, Biologist for SWSFC said “Over a period
of time we will be able to develop a picture of the extent to which
these lobsters move around. Although early days yet and the reports are
yet to be collated, it appears that a number of lobsters have moved south
to be caught by North Devon fishermen, perhaps augmenting the lobsters
within the established No Take Zone at Lundy Marine Nature Reserve.”
Together, the protection of juvenile shellfish (to
minimum landing size at first spawning size) larger breeding populations
and scientific understanding; these measures provide the basis for
building upon the already healthy local stocks of lobsters in support of
a viable, productive and sustainable fishery.
As part of the scheme 100 special V-notching pliers and
500 sets of specialist shellfish measuring gauges have been distributed
free of charge to practising commercial lobster fishermen so that they
are better able to return undersized shellfish and re – notch paid for
lobsters as the notch grows out.
Annual lobster landings average between 70 and 100
tonnes (mainly taken between May and September) from the rocky coastline
between Swansea and Cardigan. Landings, number of juveniles and catch
per pot has increased year on year over the last 5 years.
A large female lobster (e.g. 150mm carapace size or 2
kilos in weight) can produce 20,000 eggs per year – more than three
times as many as a smaller but legal sized lobster at 90mm carapace
length.
Members are reminded that, if they come across a
V-notched lobster they are obliged to return it to the sea – dead or
alive. It is an absolute offence to possess such a lobster at any
time.
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