Shark stocks in Scottish waters are severely threatened. This was recognised when Cabinet Secretary Richard Lochhead, the Scottish fisheries minister, when he said “Our scientists tell us that some shark populations are critically endangered, and we need to respond to that advice”.

However, before they can respond they say they need scientific data and yet they have no process in place to gather that data.

As no scientific body can afford to pay scientists/marine biologists to effectively tag and release large numbers of fish, SSACN has created the Scottish Shark Tagging programme to encourage anglers to get involved in tagging out of their love for the fish.

To provide specific focus, SSACN run three major tagging events at various locations and times of the year, these are :

The Spurdog Tagathon weekend :: This takes place annually in late autumn and is centred around Lochs Sunart and Etive. The main target of the event is spurdog which are currently around 5% of their historical biomass and evidence from anglers suggests that Lochs Sunnart and Etive and surrounding waters have unique resident populations and that the spurdog pup in the region.

The Sharkatag weekend :: Another annual event, but this ones takes place around mid-summer from marks around the Solway and SW Scotland with the focus on tagging tope, smoothound and collecting data on other shark species.

The Skate Tagathon weekend :: an Easter event which is run over quite wide area, mainly centered around Crinan, Oban and Loch Aline. It is believed that the skate populations are largely resident.

On these weekends, anglers fish from the shore, kayaks or boats and though the main aim of the weekend is to tag as many sharks as possible, they are also intended to raise the public awareness of the urgent need for sharks, ray and skate protection in Scottish waters.

Why Tagging

Tagging is the only non-destructive assessment of sharks available which will help provide data such as :

• Species migrations
• Growth rates
• Population and stock make-up
• Stock fluctuations dynamics

Amongst other things, the European Community Plan of Action (CPOA) for sharks seeks to ensure

• Monitoring & assessment of recreational shark fishing mortality
• Species-specific evaluation & monitoring of shark population status
• Establishing time/area closures to protect shark pupping & nursery areas
• Further restricting or prohibiting fishing in critical habitats of endangered sharks.

and puts the emphasis on “member states” to gather the necessary data to ensure

• A deeper understanding of sharks & their role in ecosystems & fisheries
• Sustainable directed shark fisheries & properly regulated bycatch

The fact that the SSTP exists reflects the poor fisheries management policies put in place by politicians who will not face up to the excessive depletion of stocks.