Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
We’re not even close to the end of this year’s fishing season, but September is closing in fast and I’m thinking that it’s at least safe to say that most anglers have more of this season off their sterns than their bows. We’ve had a pretty good run of calm weather lately and with any luck the “Labor Day Curse” won’t hit us again this year. The holiday can be the start of a long run of rough windy days that keep anglers at the dock more than out on the water. My mate Nate and I have had a busy season on the “Fish Finder” and are not ready to call it quits yet, so we’re praying that the decent conditions continue for the next month or so because September and early October usually provide us with some incredible shark fishing – weather permitting!
Each summer, I get a lot of questions about the shark research that goes on aboard the “Fish Finder”, so last week I took advantage of an afternoon off to review my shark logs for the season and come up with a summary of some of the extracurricular activities we do aboard the “Fish Finder” when we’re out on our shark charters. But before I go any further, let me explain that we’re only able to do these things with sharks because we have special use (research) permits from NMFS and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to do so. Without such permits, in both state and federal waters, sharks released from a boat or from the beach may not first be taken out of the water.
So according to my logs, as of August 15th we caught 358 sharks, representing 11 species including makos, blues, tigers, sandbars, spinners, duskies, smooth and scalloped hammerheads, Atlantic sharpnose, sand tigers and common threshers. Every season our total catch is a little different from the year before in numbers and sizes of specific species. Usually by now we should have a few blacktips under our belt, but so far we’ve yet to see the first one. We’ve also caught a lot of little spinner pups this year, but very few of the 15 to 30 pounders that usually make up the bulk of our spinner landings. It’s looking like this is going to go down as “the year of the sand tiger” because I believe that we’ve already caught more than any previous year - ever! Sandbar catch numbers are about where they usually are, but not so with duskies which have proven to be a bit more elusive this season. However, in just the last week we’ve started to see a few more of them and I’ve got a feeling that dusky numbers are going to keep strengthening as we get into September.
As far as tagging goes, so far we’ve tagged a total of 66-sharks representing 9-different species. Of those sharks, 2 were makos that we fitted with satellite SPOT tags and 3 are now carrying a new version of transmitter that’s known as a “SPLASH” tag. Along with location information, SPLASH tags gather, store and later transmit details about the water temperatures and depths the sharks have been traveling in. This data is already helping scientists get a very detailed understanding about what goes on in a mako shark’s daily and nightly routine as they travel at and below the surface of the ocean.
Most of the sharks we tag with NOAA tags are also injected with oxytetracycline which is an antibiotic having a side affect that stains the vertebra of the shark. If any of these sharks are recaptured and researchers from NOAA are able to examine a cross section of their vertebra under a microscope, they can measure how much the animal grew since we initially stained it. It’s hoped that this knowledge will someday allow a sharks age to be determined by measuring its vertebra.
By mid-August we had also taken blood samples from 56 sharks representing 9 different species. From those samples, researchers will get insight into the general health of each animal, stress levels, what they’ve been eating, where they’ve come from and other information that will help folks better understand the health and habits of our local sharks. From many species we also collect small tissue samples that are broken down to study the shark’s DNA. From DNA studies scientists are able to learn how similar species around the world are related and gives them some clues about where and how far they travel.
Most of the tagging, sampling, data collection and procedures we do on the sharks is simply volunteer fieldwork we do to help different researchers with important studies they are doing. However, one project that’s “all ours” is our attempt to develop tackle, equipment and techniques that provide sharks the best chance for survival when they are caught and released. Since 2008, we’ve been particularly concerned about designing terminal tackle to help prevent sharks from being gut-hooked when they take a baited hook. This first led to the development of the “blocker-rig” which involves a plastic pipe mounted perpendicular on the leader to keep the shark from swallowing the hook. Blocker-rigs have proven to be almost 100% successful in preventing most sharks from swallowing the hook. However, sand tiger sharks have been our nemesis in that due to their unique feeding habits and physiology the blocker-rig has only proven to “minimize”, but not totally “stop” the gut hooking.
In this column a few weeks ago, I described a new “free-hook rig” we’ve come up with that has proven to be extremely effective at preventing the deep hooking of sand tigers. This rig has the circle hook on the leader 6 to 10-inches above the bait. When a shark bites it’s given a drop-back and allowed to swallow the bait which brings the hook just inside the mouth before the line is tightened and the hook sets in the jaw. Of the 52 sand tigers we’ve caught so far this season, 44 were on the free-hook rig and only three were deep-hooked. Besides sand tigers, we’ve also caught dusky and sandbar sharks on the free-hook rig and all of them have been hooked properly in the jaw. We’re still tweaking out this new rig to find out how we can eliminate the gut hooking altogether, but for now we’re very happy with the results we’re seeing.
For a long time we’ve been keeping daily “Shark Catch Logs” and making them available to researchers and marine managers upon request. Every shark we catch is recorded in the log along with the location, time of day, water temperature, species, sex, three different measurements, estimated weight, tag number, where the hook was located, what kind of bait and rig it was caught on, the depth of the bait and a few other highlights of the catch. Last fall, all of our shark logs were turned over to the Maryland DNR for their own studies on trends in shark populations off Maryland.
Now for the sales pitch. While all of the shark research stuff we do is voluntary on our part, the funding that allows it to happen actually comes from our clients who charter the “Fish Finder” for a shark trip. Unfortunately, my boat doesn’t run on “good intentions”. It runs on expensive diesel fuel, so for us to go fishing it takes someone to book a trip with us, which then means that research will be done - which is a “win” for the scientists, which gives our clients an opportunity to have fun on the boat catching and learning about sharks while helping with the research procedures - which is a “win” for them, which also allows my mate and I to get a paycheck that day which is a “win” for us, and in the long-run all this should prove to be a big “win” for the sharks as it gives us all a better understanding of how they live, what makes them tick and how we can better manage these incredible predators.
More details about our shark trips can be found at BigSharks.com
Capt. Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat, “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center. During the winter months, Capt. Mark runs charters in the Lower Keys.
