Hi,
The purpose of this article is to try and explain why each piece of info requested on the Tagging Card ( available here in pdf ) is important to the Scottish Shark Tagging Programme.
 

Tagger’s name – We reward anglers who have tagged 10, 50 and 100 fish with our bronze, silver and gold baseball hats. A small thank you for the voluntary effort put in, but feedback is that they are appreciated by those who have received them. See the current award winners here.

Tagger’s email – If you record …

Of all the species of shark regularly encountered around the UK, the Spurdog (Squalas Acanthias) is one of the easiest to identify, namely due to the large spines which protrude in front of both dorsal fins
Spurdog are generally slate gray or dark brown on their back which fades to a white belly; they also have distinctive green eyes and scissor like teeth.
Whilst Spurdog may look big and tough creatures they are actually quite delicate especially when out of the water. Losing a fish because of an inappropriate trace …

The Scottish Shark Tagging Programme’s shark identification card shows 12 of the most common sharks, skates and rays in Scottish waters.
To get your copy of the SSTP Shark identification card

Just ‘click’ on the image.

In the Scottish Shark Tagging Programme we are tagging and collecting data for the following species; tope, smoothhound, spurdog, bull huss, rays and common skate.
We are also recording numbers, but NOT tagging, of all other shark species caught, inc. Lesser Spotted Dogfish.
This guide may be downloaded here (pdf).
The following are the SSTP minimum tagging sizes :

Tope …………. Length 100cm (10.0 lb)

Spurdog……… Length 90cm (6.4 lb)

Bull Huss…… Length 100cm (7 lb)

Smoothhound…. Length 100cm (6.5 lb)

Rays……… Wingspan 50cm (5.25lb)

Common Skate… Wingspan 55cm (5.3lb)

If a fish is below the minimum tagging size, …

By Ian Burrett
Where to Look
Tope like features or structures, so look for reefs, deep hollows, trenches etc. Back Eddies around headlands are my favourite marks as they tend to be holding areas for bait fish. You can usually pick the strength of tide by the distance away from the headland. I like at least 25-30 ft of water below me and a reasonable amount of tide so a 2-10 oz lead will hold comfortable during the tide run.
If the mackerel are out of season then in many areas, the staple …

The well being of the fish we catch has to be our principle concern.
Whilst sharks may look big and tough creatures they are actually quite delicate, especially when out of the water so when tagging it is necessary to return them to the water with the minimum of fuss and distress to the fish.
Please follow these few simple guidelines :

Strike early: This is essential to avoid a deep hooked fish as gut hooked sharks have a much lower survival rate than mouth hooked sharks.

Be Prepared: Have T bars, pliers, wire …

Introduction
The spurdog or spiny dogfish has been fished beyond safe biological levels and are classed as critically endangered so please treat any fish you catch with respect and release them as soon as possible.
Whilst Spurdog may look big and tough creatures they are actually quite delicate especially when out of the water.
This code has been written so that you can enjoy fishing for spurdog but most importantly cause the minimum of damage to any Spurdog you are lucky enough to encounter.
It is worth remembering that the sharp …

Approved by the NFSA, SACN, SFSA, Shark Trust and the UK shark tagging programme
Introduction
Whilst tope may look big and tough creatures they are actually quite delicate especially when out of the water. This code has been written so that you can enjoy tope angling but most importantly cause the minimum of damage to any tope you are lucky enough to encounter. Please remember a gut hooked fish is usually down to bad angling practise and should be avoided by striking early and releasing a tope at the side of the …