Is one of the longest running shows on earth about to come to an end? Meet the stars of the show; the Spurdog, the Thornback Ray and the (not so) Common Skate the products of over 400 million years of evolution whose population numbers are now under serious threat primarily from over-fishing. The Species: The Spurdog also ...

The effects of the swine flu upon sharks is not a direct one - these animals are not finding themselves coming down with cases of H1N1 like humans and other land animals. However, they are being threatened in a grave way by the virus through the pharmaceutical process which requires a substance – Squalene – to make a key component ...

From the Sky News page at http://tinyurl.com/yhdzcqf The world's smallest ever whale shark has reportedly been discovered in waters off the eastern Philippines. The baby whale shark measured just 15 inches and was found in shallow water off Donsol in the Philippine province of Sorsogon on Saturday. Activists for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) who ...

A NEW report has identified two areas on the west coast of Scotland - Gunna Sound between the islands of Coll and Tiree and the sea around the islands of Canna and Hyskeir - as ‘hotspots’ for basking sharks, the second largest fish in the world. The report, published by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), identified the hotspots from the ...

SSACN are delighted to announce today that the EU Council of Fisheries Ministers’ has voted to stop all commercial fishing for porbeagle sharks and reduce fishing quotas for spurdog, by 90% in line with scientific advice and proposals from  the European Commission. These dramatic reductions have come as a result of the Eu shark management plan which pledged to ...

Rome, 14 December 2009 An advisory panel of independent experts convened by FAO has issued recommendations regarding six proposals to limit international trade in a number of commercially exploited aquatic animals under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Panel outcomes Following a thorough six-day ...

In a two-day meeting of Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission it has said that more protection for bonefish and sharks and more research on Goliath grouper and permit are much needed. The commission adopted a series of rules to enhance the state's protection of Atlantic coastal shark species that take effect in mid-January. It is informed that ...

Very little work has been carried out in the UK to show the mortality rates on fish released by rod and line anglers; consequently much of the findings below are based on fish from overseas. A study http://www.acuteangling.com/Reference/C&RMortality.html was carried out on a variety of different species ( non Shark ) The study suggests an average successful return ...

The Scottish Shark Tagging Programme has focussed attention on Lochs Sunart and Etive because anecdotal evidence suggest there is a unique residential population in and around the Lochs. The government needs factual evidence before it can protect the area. The following are the most recent recaptures in the Etive / Sunart areas. Etive ...

Two spurdog were recaptured today in Loch Sunart; one carried a UKSTP tag and we are currently trying to get data on that. The other carried a SSTP tag having been tagged during the last tagathon. That’s now four recaptured (2 in Etive and 2 in Sunart) and certainly three are within half a mile of original tagging. Again ...

  John Spiers has just recaptured a male tope off Corsewall lighthouse (nr Stranraer, Dumfries and Galloway) in 46 metres of water. The fish was originally tagged by Ian Burrett on 05/08/2008 off Luce Bay and as far as we are aware this is the first time the fish has been recaptured. ...

Sharkatag2010 is the next in the SSACN / SSTP shark tagging events, it will run from the 18th to the 20th of June. This page will continue to be updated from time to time as various issues are finalised and more information becomes available but if you’d like to pre-register you may do so using the simple form at the bottom ...

Shop via www.easyfundraising.org.uk and support SSACN. You can raise funds for SSACN when you shop online at any of 2000 of the UK's best-known retailers including many popular names such as Amazon, Next, Argos, John Lewis and HMV; between 2 and 15% from every purchase you make then goes to SSACN. This costs you no more money than ...

Regarding catch limits for 2010, the Commission will continue to set catch limitations for the following elasmobranch fisheries: Skates and rays (all species) in ICES areas IIa, IV; VIa,VIIa-c, e-k; VIId; VIII, IX and IIIa Spurdog in IIIa; II, IV; I, V, VI, VII, VIII, XII XIV Porbeagle ...

Listen to SSTP’s Ian Burrett talking about Tagathon on this weekends BBC Radio Scotland’s Out of Doors programme at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00nwsgy – fast forward to 1hr 10 mins to get to the start of Ian’s contribution to the programme. Related posts:Sign up for Tagathon2009 SSACN receive funding for Shark Officer Input to Sea Angling Strategy Group