Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
Most offshore anglers are probably aware that this season, and for the first time "ever", recreational anglers will not be allowed to take (keep) mako sharks. More background on this in a moment, but first let me say that while this regulation definitely "will" go into effect - it has not yet, so as of right now (May 28) anglers are still allowed to keep makos that meet the minimum size limits. However, very soon NMFS will be publishing their final rule on this which will confirm the date when the prohibition will start, and the latest intel I've heard suggests that it will be sometime later in June.
Very aware that the most recent size regulations of 71” for male and 83” for female makos has made a major reduction in the number of these sharks being brought back to the dock, this prohibition on makos is not something that the folks at NMFS asked for or even think is warranted. However, since the U.S. is a member of ICCAT, which is a coalition of countries (sort of like the United Nations) that work together to manage highly migratory species including tuna, billfish, swordfish, and sharks, we are bound to go along with what the majority of the nations vote for in the way of management decisions. So even though NMFS agrees that U.S. commercial and recreational anglers have done more than our share to protect mako stocks, since makos are very migratory and will wander from country to country, the number of makos off our coast affects what might end up off of other countries, therefore, we have to stop boating them along with all the other countries. None of us on this side of the pond are happy about all this - it's just the way it is.
This is supposed to be a 2-year prohibition on makos that will allow "whoever" to figure out the status of mako populations and come up with management plans that will effectively help to maintain healthy populations of these fish. However, we should also be prepared for the possibility that in a couple years we might hear that they're not ready to reopen the mako fishery. Time will tell!
As a charter captain and fishing guide specializing in sharks and shark fishing, my whole world pretty much revolves around sharks so regulations affecting the fishery have a direct impact on my livelihood. So ever since all of this mako stuff started at last fall's ICCAT meeting, I've been bombarded with questions about how this prohibition is going to affect both my business and the shark fishery.
To better understand how much this might locally have fishermen scrambling, it would probably be helpful to first see how shark fishing has evolved over the years and specifically off Delmarva.
Leading into the 90's, sharks were seldom fished for as they were widely considered to be "trash fish" not worth any serious fishing effort and not very good to eat with the only exception being the mako shark which had a good reputation as being an exiting fighter and great table fare.
All that changed in 1975 when JAWS hit the theaters spawning a huge public interest in sharks and anglers interest in shark fishing. Through the 80's & early 90's sharks had become such a popular target for fishermen that shark tournaments sprang up in just about every coastal state.
In Ocean City, sharks would become coveted catches in the annual Mako Mania and Ocean City Shark Tournaments as well as have divisions in the White Marlin Open and a few other local competitions. Eventually sharks became one of the most popular offshore fish for both charter and private boat anglers to target in late May and throughout June.
Through much of that period there were very few regulations on sharks and anglers could pretty much keep whatever they wanted. But by the new millennium many shark species had dropped in numbers so much that fisheries began to tighten regulations more and more and eventually bring us to the very stringent and complicated rules that we've been fishing under for the last few years.
Eventually the ever tightening regulations became so much of a hassle to fishermen that many began to lose interest in chasing sharks and focus more on the tuna fishery - the season of which has recently expanded to where it now totally overlaps the entire shark season. I guess you could say that the shift in anglers' preference is a win for sharks and a loss for tuna, and most of the fishermen seem to be ok with it as they can now focus their efforts on catching fish that they don't have to worry about taking a chunk out of their leg if they get careless!
With participation in the shark fishery on the wane anyway, it's no surprise that the current and upcoming shark regulations have prompted OC's two major shark tournaments to close shop and the White Marlin Open to drop it's shark category. The recreational shark fishery is no longer big business for fishermen!
Well, at least for most of them anyway.
As I mentioned from the start, I've been questioned a lot recently about how I think my shark fishing business is going to weather the new mako prohibition. And I've been happy to report that despite the new or any of the old regulations, there's still enough people out the who get really excited about going out on the water to catch a few sharks. They don't care about restrictive regulations because they're happy to release everything anyway. Shark fishing isn't everyone's cup of tea but there's enough folks out there who are into it enough that it'll never go away completely - regardless of whether or not they can bring home a mako! §
