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Welcome to June “Shark Month” off Maryland’s Coast.
Why June? A wide variety of species use the waters off the Delmarva as a corridor to northern waters in the spring, and to warmer, southern areas in autumn. Photo period, distribution of forage and water temperatures all play a role in the seasonal migration of a myriad of fish species we see off the Maryland coast. While no two years are identical in terms of the specific timing of when certain species show up off our coast, we do have a good sense of the general timing for many of these migrations. For several species of sharks, June is the best time to experience the broad diversity and abundance while fishing.
Beginning in mid-to-late May and extending into mid-June, colder water species such as threshers begin to show up, followed closely by blue sharks and the most prized by fishermen of all, shortfin mako sharks. As waters continue to warm later in June, a variety of other shark species appear in our coastal waters. Inshore, we see sand tiger, sandbar and dusky sharks which can be caught by surf anglers or nearshore boat anglers. As summer takes hold, an array of warmer water species may appear in our waters, including lemon, spinner, blacktip, hammerhead and tiger sharks.
This upcoming weekend brings the first of several local and regional shark fishing tournaments with the Mako Mania Tournament out of Bahia Marina. Two weeks later is the 32nd Annual Ocean City Shark Tournament, and other regional tournaments will draw area sport fishermen to search for sharks.
How are shark populations managed?
The management of sharks is facilitated by the Interstate Fishery Management Plan for Coastal Sharks through the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission. The management process is an interstate and state-federal cooperative with NOAA Fisheries working with the coastal states. Recreational management of coastal sharks includes the following measures:
• Recreational anglers may catch any shark species that is not illegal to land by recreational anglers in federal waters. Conversely, recreational anglers are prohibited from possessing any shark species that is illegal to catch or land by recreational anglers in federal waters. As federal recreationally prohibited shark species change, recreationally prohibited shark species in state waters change automatically.
• Prohibited species (must be released): dusky, longfin mako, sandbar, sandtiger, silky and white sharks.
• Sharks caught in the recreational fishery must have a fork length of at least 4.5 feet (54 inches) for the following species: tiger, blacktip, spinner, bull, lemon, nurse, great hammerhead, scalloped hammerhead, smooth hammerhead, shortfin mako, porbeagle, common thresher, oceanic whitetip and blue sharks. Excepted are Atlantic sharpnose, blacknose, finetooth, bonnethead and smooth dogfish. For a full listing of shark regulations in Maryland, please refer to pages 52 & 53 in the Maryland Fishing Guide: http://dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/fishing_guide/guide.pdf
• Each recreational shore-angler is allowed a maximum harvest of one shark from the federal recreationally permitted species per calendar day. In addition, each recreational shore angler may harvest one additional bonnethead, one additional Atlantic sharpnose and one additional smooth dogfish per calendar day.
• All sharks caught by recreational fishermen must have heads, tails and fins attached naturally to the carcass. Anglers may still gut and bleed the carcass by making an incision at the base of the caudal peduncle as long as the tail is not removed. Filleting sharks at sea is prohibited.
• HMS Angling and charter/head boat permit holders cannot simultaneously possess hammerhead (great, scalloped, or smooth) or oceanic whitetip sharks AND tunas, billfish and/or swordfish.
• The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) encourages the live release of shortfin mako sharks and has developed a free application (app) called “Release Mako” that fishermen can use to share information on the water about shortfin mako releases using their Android mobile devices. Information can also be submitted via the Atlantic HMS website (http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/shortfinmako/index.htm), telephone, or fax.
• To reference an identification sheet of sharks, visit the NMFS website: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/sharks/2008/Rec_shark_ID_placard.pdf
There are a couple of people who are making a difference in shark fishing off the Maryland coast.
Maryland DNR biologist Angel Willey works in the Department’s Coastal Fisheries Program and is Maryland’s Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) representative on the Coastal Sharks Technical Committee. Angel conducts statistical analyses, and participates in development of species stock assessments for the many species of sharks managed through ASMFC.
Avid Maryland fisherman and shark conservationist, Captain Mark Sampson, currently serves on the National Marine Fisheries Service Highly Migratory Species Advisory Panel. In this capacity, Captain Mark provides input for policy development on highly migratory species including sharks. Having the benefit of input based on long experience is very valuable to fishery scientists in making recommendations for the conservation and responsible management of our shark fishery resources. Captain Mark is also the founder of the annual Ocean City Shark Tournament.
If you are interested in seeing sharks up close and personal, the upcoming shark tournaments are a good place to go.
On June 1st to 3rd, the 16th Annual Mid-Atlantic Mako Mania Tournament will be held at Bahia Marina.
A couple of weeks later, on June 14th to 16th, the 32nd Annual Ocean City Shark Tournament will be held at the Ocean City Fishing Center in West Ocean City, MD.
If you have any questions regarding fishing or fisheries management in Ocean City and Maryland’s Atlantic coast, please send them to Keith Lockwood at [email protected] or call 410-226-0078.
