You can read more about the festival here.

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1. Islay Tope Festival 2010
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This year the festival is over the weekend of the 21st and 22nd of August and the SSTP will be heading over to join Gus Newman of ‘Stormcats’ the event organiser to have a go at tagging some Islay Tope! If anyone is interested in this event, please get in touch with Gus at 01496 300129 or email gus@stormcats.co.uk. For more info visit http://www.stormcats-islay.com/article.php/islay-tope-fishing-2010.

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This has only been achieved through the terrific support of the 100′s of anglers – especially all those who have qualified for a bronze, silver or gold cap.

The Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network

Scottish Shark Tagging Programme

“ 1000 sharks tagged in Scottish waters by sea anglers in less than one year. ”

The Scottish Shark Tagging Programme (SSTP) which is run by the Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network (SSACN) has recently logged its 1000 fish, a major landmark for the new tagging programme.

The 1000th fish, was a 73 pound tope shark was caught by Jan Mejlink from Amsterdam on his annual fishing trip to Scotland.

The fact that Jan and his colleagues are willing to travel so far to enjoy their sea fishing highlights the economic impact sea angling can have on coastal economies and the necessity for healthy inshore fish stocks.

Ian Burrett, SSACN’s Project Director “We are delighted that so many fish have been tagged and the data returned to us. This data is crucial to allow appropriate management decisions to be made to ensure the survival of Scotland’s shark, skate and ray species.”

Tagging is the only method which offers the ability to gain an insight into the life history characteristics, migration movements and stock fluctuations of sharks, skates and rays without killing them.

Richard Lochhead, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Environment, said: “With some shark populations critically endangered we need to take measures to protect and sustain sharks in Scottish waters. That’s why the Scottish Government is committed to shark conservation, as demonstrated by the ban I introduced on the barbaric practice of ‘shark finning’ last October.

“Shark tagging plays an important role in monitoring the sharks around Scotland’s coasts and helping us increase our knowledge of the marine environment and I’m delighted that we have surpassed 1,000 sharks tagged.”

The tagging programme which started earlier this year, and is part funded by Scottish Natural Heritage and Leader, relies on voluntary input from sea anglers to tag and record details of fish. Some interesting returns so far have included tope sharks originally tagged in Scotland being re-caught off Wales and the Azores; another tope shark being recaptured in the Solway 4 years after it was originally tagged there; and a pair of common skate being re-caught in the same place and same order, a year after their initial tagging.

Les McBride, a regular contributor to the programme, said “The feedback I have received from the project on the fish I catch is very interesting, knowing where my fish was last caught and how much it has grown increases my enjoyment of my sport as each tagged fish I catch has a story, and each tag I put in is the start of another one”.
[ENDS]

Related posts:

1. SSACN Press release – EU Shark Plan
2. BBC – Sharkatag
3. BBC – Sharkatag

The fishery, which operates in the United States Exclusive Economic Zone of the Atlantic Ocean, will be assessed by an independent certifier against the MSC standard for sustainable fishing. If successful, products from this fishery will be eligible to bear the blue MSC ecolabel.

This fishery includes the harvest of spiny dogfish in federal waters and the waters of seven states (Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Virginia and North Carolina) using three gear types including gillnet, longline, and otter trawl.

The spiny dogfish fishery operates most months of the year, with the main market being for the meat in the EU.

Full story available here

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2. EC to ban trade in tuna, porbeagle and spiny dogfish ?
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A conservation watchdog Monday accused a Brazilian company of illegally fishing 280,000 sharks which were killed to feed Asia’s appetite for sharkfin.

The Environmental Justice Institute, a Brazilian group, lodged a suit against seafood exporter Sigel do Brasil Comercio demanding USD 800 million in environmental damages.

"We think the sharkfins were exported clandestinely, in containers, likely from the ports of Rio Grande do Sul to the Asian market," according to their spokesman.

The company caught the sharks off the northern Brazilian state of Para between March 2009 and May 2010, according to information from the Brazilian state environmental agency Ibama.

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The fish, a 36lb male, was caught very near to its original tagging location off Luce Bay by Ian Burrett who after quickly taking the necessary details for the SSTP database, released it again; hopefully we’ll see the fellow again.

This recapture once again indicates that the fish return to the same locations. This in turn shows how dependent the quality of sea angling of this part of the Scottish coastline and its contribution to the local economy, is on that fact.

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1. Sharkatag 2009
2. Sharkatag on Sea Watch UK
3. Sharkatag Update

Andy’s report …… The idea in my head was perfect as I looked out of my office over a dreary winter’s afternoon. I’ll wait till the summer and then take a load of injured veterans out from the Tri Service Community for a day’s boat fishing; should be easy enough to arrange. A good friend of mine and himself seriously injured in Iraq put me in touch with the Events Organiser at The Not Forgotten Association (NFA) who asked me to plan for the 14 July, in the Dumfries area.

The borders may be well known for the devastating floods and the more recent gun tragedy but it certainly didn’t ring any bells with me about its charter boat fleet.

Not put off I scaled the event back to 10 veterans and two boats and kindly accepted the offer of a professional charter boat from Portpatrick Charters run by Husband and wife team Ian and Lesley Cerexhe and an Ayr Sea Angling Club(ASAC) friend of mine and club chairman Willie Kennedy assisted by another club member Jamie Soons.

Rosie Thompson, the event’s organiser for NFA, used her charms to get 10 sets of Tope gear provided free of charge by Fox International, Mr Stephen Bennie, the manager of Troon Yacht Haven took care of Willie’s fuel for the day and everyone gave their time for free and aimed to give the lads the best day out. Boats, skippers, crew, tackle and fuel sorted all we had to do was pray for the weather.

The day arrived and strong Easterly winds were bending trees at the crew’s base in Carsthorn and a few hesitant, non sailing types were starting to doubt the decision to go. With two double amputees and a complete non swimmer what could possibly go wrong. A re-assuring phone call they set off for the two hour drive to Portpatrick. Kitted out in Military Suits they were soon warm and dry and off we sailed into the semi unknown. The waters around the North Irish Sea at this time of year should be teaming with Tope and Mackerel so I was confident enough we could do something for the lads.

At our first mark and the plan was to feather up some Mackerel for bait and a scent trail and then maybe put the pick down for some Tope or other small shark species. The strong wind over a spring tide stopped us from getting too far out and when we dropped down at the start there was a haunting silence as the feathers started to be worked. I put on a small set of sabikis and managed the usual grey gurnard and occasional Mackerel but this was slightly worrying at the lack of Mackerel. With no worm to keep the costs down I was starting to think just how long minimal fish would keep these guys happy for with the first man starting to look a bit green already. I needn’t have worried as the skippers had done the business and we soon got reassuring calls of, “I think I’ve got a Fish on Andy,” and then “I’ve caught 2” then 3, then full strings. I put my rod away and spent the next hour or so unhooking a steady stream of mackerel. I think the lads would have been happy doing that all day and it never ceases to amaze me just how much pleasure novice anglers get from hooking 20 or 30 mackerel.

Next we tried briefly some drift fishing over a large offshore bank with bait as the tide eased. Willie and Jamie got there first in “Reel Deal” and with the pick down he was catching a steady stream of Dogs, Huss and other species for his 4 man crew. As members of The Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network (SSACN) all Ayr SAC members actively tag and return UK shark species. Royal Marine Sea Anglers work closely with both Ayr SAC and SSACN and although SSACN couldn’t make the day personally they recently donated £100 to RM charities for help in the organising of the “Shark a Tag” event and gave out Sharkatag hats and T shirts.

Willie, Jamie and the lads tagged a few nice Huss, the best of them being a 9lb 9oz fish for an injured fellow RM Commando. On the drift we continued to bag more species with more mackerel, whiting, dogs, Tub Gurnard, Coalfish and a small codling, but it wasn’t pleasant fishing with a significant swell still present. Lesley was doing an outstanding job of cooking up bacon and sausage baps and unhooking fish and best of all she kept the two flavours apart. With two double amputees on our boat and one rather green looking lad we ran for the shelter of land and an inshore mark, while Willie stuck it out.

Close in on the drift the lads were shown some techniques for Pollack and it wasn’t long before a few nice “pan sized” fish were coming aboard. The species kept rolling in and we started to catch a few nice codling also which also made it to the pot. Using Mackerel for bait we also had the inevitable dogs and plenty more Mackerel which the lads happily returned. Between drifts they continued to amuse themselves by hand feeding the gulls and watching in awe as gannets dived around the boat for bait discards.

For our final hour or so, we put the pick down ourselves albeit close inshore. The lads continued with baited paternoster rigs and the skipper and I put down a scent trail bag and some big Tope rigs. I only brought one rod so with 20lb braid and a 20lb class ugly stick I was hoping for a nice small pack fish just as a demo for the lads. They continued to bag up on Cod, Pollack, LSD, Whiting and Mackerel while I changed baits regularly as the endless stream of dogfish tried to choke themselves on whole Mackerel and a 10/0 hook.

At 1430 I got a run and not wanting to speak too soon I picked up the rod and slowly wound down into what felt like a Trident Submarine. Watching my 150 yards of braid disappear rapidly I managed to turn the fish with a few turns of line left before the knot and apply the first bit of real pressure. Confident I had a solid hook hold I got one of the lads who hadn’t managed to keep his lunch down onto the rod. After another two hard runs he was beaten and handed over to another one of the lads to finish the fight as he massaged his forearms. Coaching the second angler up the boat the skipper and I lifted a perfectly clean female fish onto the deck. A wet towel over the eyes allowed us to take measurements of the large female and she was tagged and returned after a group photo.

After the adrenalin rush had subsided I had a quick look at the size conversion chart and an average fish is estimated at 60lb for that size. When the final size conversion was done on land she came out as 64lb. A perfect end to a cracking day with 10 species being caught by the all novice crews and some great guys, I look forward to repeating this again. The tackle donated by FOX held up well and will be used to for the RM sponsored Father’s & Sons grass roots trips from Exmouth.

Some of the best comments received from the veterans who participated are listed below.

Darren Swift (Swifty) – ex 1 Royal Green Jackets, double amputee blown up in Northern Ireland

Fantastic day; the whole group had a great day (even the guys that chundered).  I’d never been sea fishing before and wasn’t really sure what to expect but Andy and the two skippers soon had us all reeling in the fish with the highlight of the day being the catching and tagging of a 60lb Tope shark. "Awesome". 

Johnnie Ray – Ex Grenadier Guards, double amputee lost his legs in a training incident in Canada along with two others.

Andy what a fantastic day.  Before I got to the harbour I wasn’t sure but as soon as we got on the boats it was the start of a fantastic day.  You and the skipper were brilliant both with many years of experience.   The day was great when we were catching fish but the highlight of the day was catching a 60lb Tope.  Wow!   What a great end to an already awesome day.

Shane Rex – 2 Yorks – 3 months back from Afghanistan – involved in 6 major contacts – very much in need of some r n r

I had a fantastic time, quite possibly the best thing I have done in a long long time.   To say I can’t swim at all, I wasn’t bothered at all about being out so deep.  Catching the shark is a once in a lifetime experience for me.   A big thank you for an outstanding day.

Dan Bonham – 1 Royal Anglians – injured during Afghanistan pre-deployment training

It was a brilliant day even though I ended up feeding the seagulls my breakfast over the side of the boat.   The guys showing us how to fish couldn’t have been better.   Thank you for a great day.

Stuart Robertson – 1 Royal Anglians – injured in Afghanistan

From start to finish it was a perfect day (apart from emptying my guts in the sea)!   It was my first time fishing but with Andy and the other two skippers’ guidance and help I was pulling in the fish in no time and even assisted in pulling in a shark!   Thanks guys.

Lolos Lako-Tombe – Marine 42 Cdo – injured in training

Fantastic experience all round Andy, my view in fishing has completely changed.   I would definitely recommend to others to experience this type of fishing.   It has inspired me to want to do an add-qual in sailing then hope to fish in my own down time.   Thank you.

Jimi Healey – 2nd Yorks – again 3 months back from Afghanistan – involved in 6 major contacts and again very much in need of some r n r

Thank you Andy for a brilliant day.   Never done anything like this before and enjoyed myself from start to finish. "Feels like I am still on the boat got my sea legs but oh cant get rid of them now"   Tagging the shark was an experience I will not soon forget.   Thank you. X1X

Marine Alan Coman – 42 Cdo, injured during training been in Base Company for 18 months and desperately in need of a break

An absolutely hoofing day, enjoyed from start to finish, even if the other boat cheated and bought a Tope before we set off and then doctored video footage to prove it.   They didn’t fool me!!   Would do this again in a heartbeat!

Nigel Smith – ex Royal Navy – single amputee, lost his leg in a motorcycle accident

Great day despite the choppy sea. Excellent skipper very knowledgeable and informative answering a range of questions and knew the best spots.   The mate (skippers wife) supplied hot food through the day, always good for morale.   I was pleased with my catch – 5 different species and the highlight was the big tope, nothing was too much trouble for the crew and look forward to the next time.

Acknowledgements: Without the help and support of the following people this event would not have been possible.

• Ian & Lesley Cerexhe: Portpatrick Charters (on board Rhins Ranger)
• Willie Kennedy: Chairman – Ayr Sea Angling Club (on board Reel Deal)
• Jamie Soons: Bad Panda Graphics – Ayr Sea Angling Club member
• Mr Stephen Bennie: Troon Yacht Haven
• Mr Fox: Fox International
• Ms Rosie Thompson: Events Organiser, The Not Forgotten Association.
• SSACN: Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network

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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 a recapture, we will send you any details we may have of its past. If you tag a fish for the first time and it is recaptured later on – you will receive an update from us.

• Location – Not everyone has GPS, but a good description will tell us where the fish was caught.

• Date – helps us to know how long the fish has been at large and how long it has taken to travel between capture points.

• Latitude / Longitude – locations of fish captures can be plotted on a nautical chart and used for further analysis. This information is NOT made publically available.

• Depth – may give an indication of the location of fish at different times of the year / breeding / mating cycle, eg: thornbacks move into shallow water to breed at certain times of the year.

• Time Start / End / Rods in water – this helps establish a catch rate. If for example three rods were fished for eight hours and tagged four fish, this gives a capture rate of one fish per six rod hours – this will help to compare catch rates year upon year in the future.

• Comments – I usually add in tide times, weather conditions and water temperature which is shown on my fish finder, but anything else that you feel may have relevance can be included here.

• Tag No. – Vital.  Without this, the info could relate to any fish. When tagging, I write the number of my next tag in before the fish is landed, this may be tempting fate, but saves trying to read a small tag number when a large fish is writhing about on the deck or the shore.

• Species and Sex – Species speaks for itself; sex can help with movement patterns during mating.

• Length / girth or width / weight – very important – we are trying to develop size to weight ratio charts which will help minimise handling. The more information gathered, the more accurate the charts. It is useful if in the comments box (or fish condition) to put if the fish was weighted or estimated.

• Bait used – helps research students to understand diet patterns of shark types.

• Time Caught – This can be compared to tide times to see if a pattern can be established. IE – at XXX location, spurdog may tend to feed two hours after high water. Trends and patterns like this can only be established from the information recorded on the tag returns

• Fish condition – I have tagged fish that have had wounds, lice, leeches, fin damage etc. If the fish condition is accurately recorded and the fish is later recaptured, we can establish if fish heal themselves to any extent; if parasites become more of a problem or can be shaken off; or if new damage appears to the fish etc. and how long it took for that change to take place. Photographs definitely do help understand the issues.

• Pictures – This is not on the card and we appreciate this isn’t always easy and can be time consuming, but as long as it will cause no harm to the fish ( see the various codes of best practice ), photos can really help substantiate sex, species, condition, size and provide a useful backup to each record. These can even be put on our facebook page with the tag number as a title!

I know anglers are concerned that if they give precise locations on the cards that they will be made public, this is NOT the case. The data entered into the SSTP database is only accessible to a few people, each of whom is under obligation not to disclose exact locations of marks to anyone.

Any location information that is used in SSACN members and public reports will be very un-precise and will not be sufficient to identify a particular mark.

Eg: – Individual catch sites within the Firth of Lorn will be released as being within the Firth of Lorn area as opposed to their exact locations. Figure A shows how that data would be presented for scientific data analysis; Figure B – the same data as presented to the general public.

Finally, thank you for all your tagging effort up to date, the SSTP is a very successful tagging programme and without your input would not be in place today.

I hope this guide will help you understand why we ask for each piece of information and would be grateful if you could take a little extra time and fill in as much information as possible.

Thank you.

Gordon.

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Thanks to the incredible team behind Sharkatag and all those who took part in them, Sharkatag was a huge success; the increase in the numbers of novices and juniors was a special feature this year.

Once again the event showed that sea anglers can enjoy themselves, take a real interest in conservation and make significant economic contributions to coastal economies, all at one and the same time.

On page 6 you’ll also find an article by Terry Morris which we believe encapsulates many of the values and objectives of SSACN.

The SSTP has really begun to gather place now, and with the introduction of "Tagger of the Month" and "Top Tagger" awards, we are now able to give recognition to those anglers who go ‘above and beyond’.

As always we’d like to thank all our Members and Volunteers for their continued support and encouragement.

Remember you can keep up to date via www.ssacn.org, www.tagsharks.com and now via Facebook.

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The newsletter focuses on two major projects – The Scottish Shark Tagging Programme (SSTP – www.tagsharks.com) and a Scottish Industry Science Partnership (SISP) activity, where SSACN are the industry lead, to develop a standard process for undertaking near-shore stock surveys.

There’s also news of a new tagging event around next Easter; this combined with the Tagthon and Sharkatag provides a terrific foundation for the SSTP

Sharkatag 2010 again showed the tremendous commitment sea anglers have to their sport and conservation – most encouragingly, we welcomed a good number of novices and juniors.

In the past three years SSACN has grown quite substantially, this is down to the hard work of a number of volunteers, the terrific support from our Members and also those who have kindly help fund some of our work through donations, sponsored events, boot sales etc.

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