Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
Tournaments can be a lot of fun for anglers and certainly a boost for local economies. But in these times when so many populations of gamefish are, at best, in “debatable” levels of health, the question seems to come up more and more as to the ethics of tournaments these days. After all, at first glance it can be hard to justify the perpetuation of events that pretty much put a “bounty” on the heads of fish that are deemed (at least by some) to be in need of increased conservation rather than depletion.
Which brings us to the Ocean City Shark Tournament; an event that has pitted angler against angler in a competition and has been applauded by some for its efforts in education and shark conservation while being scorned by others for supposedly glorifying the slaughter of sharks.
As one of the original founders and a continued director of the aforementioned event, I can say that after three decades of selling t-shirts, weighing sharks, and tallying up release points I’ve got a pretty good handle of what the event is all about. Perfect? Of course not. But has it morphed into an annual slaughter that’s sending sharks down the road to extinction? I’d say, “not even close.” But since I obviously have a vested interest in the tournament and could understandably be deemed “prejudiced-in-favor”, perhaps it would be best to simply show the facts and let the critics decide for themselves.
First of all, who are these “people” who go out to fish for sharks? Very often, the other side likes to portray them as a bunch of “macho-nut-jobs” who are drawn to the event for the sheer pleasure of participating in both carnage and plunder on the high seas. But the truth is, the folks that fish in the Shark Tournament are the same simple men, women, and children from all walks of life, who on any given day might be found fishing for flounder, tuna, or white marlin. Anglers will register to fish this event from their 21-foot outboards, 60-foot multi-million dollar sport fishing machines, and just about every size and shape of boat in between. These same folks will fish the OC Tuna Tournament, White Marlin Open, Poor Girls Open, surf-fishing tournaments, flounder tournaments, and the fall rockfish tournaments. Shark anglers aren’t anything or anyone special, they’re just local fishermen. So when someone puts a label on shark tournament participants they’re pretty much tagging our entire fishing community. Hey bud - you got a PROBLEM with our local fishing community?
Another argument I hear is that the Shark Tournament “glorifies” the killing of sharks by making “public spectacle” of the hanging, weighing, and dismembering of sharks “in front of cheering crowds.” That’s an interesting way of describing the scene that plays out at any tournament where fish are brought back to the dock. Whether it’s flounder, rockfish or tuna, most tournament weigh-ins are pretty much the same in that the boats pull up, fish are unloaded, weighed, the crowd cheers for the anglers, and then the fish are either taken away by the fishermen or go right to the cleaning table. For someone to suggest that the Shark Tournament is bad because the weigh-ins are viewed by sometimes large and excited crowds might want to consider that the so-called “spectacle” is one that plays out in almost every tournament where fish are brought back to the dock. A crowd cheers for an angler who weighs-in a mako for the same reason they would cheer at a different tournament for someone who brings in a winning tuna, or for that matter, an athlete for making a goal, a putt, or a run. They cheer because they’re congratulating them for their accomplishment in the competition. It has nothing to do with glorifying the death of a fish.
Of course the most common arguments against shark tournaments, and perhaps the only ones that are not based on pure emotions, are those made for conservation of sharks.
Because many countries have little or no shark fishing regulations, a lot of shark populations are in big trouble, a fact that’s been so often portrayed in the news and in television documentaries. The atrocities that continue to decimate certain shark species need to stop now. Unfortunately, in some cases so much damage has already been done to certain species that some estimates put recovery time in the hundreds of years. But what is often not adequately understood by those who don’t really know sharks is that around the world there are over 350 different species and not all of them are in trouble. In fact, some of them are doing just fine. To say that that all sharks need to be prohibited from harvest because a number of them have been over-fished would be like deciding that king mackerel should be protected because sea trout are in decline.
To really help shark populations, the entire world needs to get together and ensure that all countries enact and enforce realistic shark management plans that lean to the side of conservation “first” before economics. While I admit that they could stand some “tightening-up,” here in the U.S. our own commercial and recreational fishermen are regulated by some of the most stringent shark fishery regulations in the world and our fishery managers are constantly in the process of assessing the health of populations and adjusting catch limits for the many shark species found off our coast. The “finning” and massive overfishing of sharks is not legal in our waters – a fact not often revealed by the media.
Back to the Shark Tournament: Over the past eight years there has been an average of 22 sharks weighed-in at each event. That’s not “each day” that’s “during each 3-day event.” That many sharks is probably less than what is usually brought in by non-tournament fishermen on any given Saturday in the early summer. One reason for this low number of sharks weighed-in is because, for an extra measure of conservation, the OC Shark Tournament has stricter catch and size limits than those imposed by the state and federal government. The tournament also has an aggressive “Release Division” that promotes the release of most sharks taken. Folks should also know that none of the three species of sharks (mako, thresher, blue) that can be brought in to the tournament are considered to be threatened or endangered. If they were, the government wouldn’t allow them to be boated in the first place.
To put things into perspective, in 2010 the National Marine Fisheries Service has set a quota that will allow well over a million and a half pounds dressed weight (no heads or guts) of pelagic sharks (makos, threshers, blues) to be harvested by commercial fishermen. The 22 sharks taken annually in the Shark Tournament are not even a drop in the bucket compared to the total take of these sharks off our coast. Shut down the tournament to protect sharks? How would that help?
Of course I’m prejudiced in favor of the Ocean City Shark Tournament, it’s a business for me. But my primary livelihood is taking people out on the water to enjoy safe, exciting and educational experiences with sharks. If only for my own bank account, I need healthy populations of sharks off our coast. That’s why I ignore all the emotional hype and false claims by the media and animal-rights organizations and just stick with the facts. Anyone who wants to experience the truth for themselves and make up their own mind about the OC Shark Tournament is welcome to join me for the weigh-ins on the docks of the Ocean City Fishing Center on June 17, 18, 19, from 3:30 to 7:00 PM.
Captain Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
