Call for experienced anglers to bolster shark data

The Manx Wildlife Trust said tagging was useful to build data on shark habits

Experienced anglers have been encouraged to take part in a small shark tagging programme to help gather important data.

Work carried out by the Manx Wildlife Trust and volunteers since 2013 has enabled more than 400 animals to be tagged in Manx waters.

As well as small sharks, which were mainly tope and spurdog species, the scheme also includes skates and rays.

Marine officer Lara Howe said the trust was "looking for experienced anglers who have done some shark angling in the past to come forward and do some of the tagging training".

The training involves a theory session, which includes how to properly handle the fish and use the tag gun, followed by a practical session on a boat.

Dr Howe said being experienced was important as handling some of the species was "not for the faint hearted".

The tope is one of the most common species found around the island's coast

The trust works in conjunction with the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture to collect data for Manx waters.

Data collected showed that in the past decade there had been no local recaptures of a tagged shark, Dr Howe said.

But there had been several caught around Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, and the Bay of Biscay, which showed they were "travelling quite large distances, much further than we first thought", she said.

However, she said a number captured elsewhere were being "landed for market".

Dr Howe said while it was important to protect them in the island's territorial waters, that was "not a lot of use" if they then moved off to Spain or Portugal where they were "fished out and sent to market".

"Maybe we'll want to create marine nature reserves on the Isle of Man specifically for our sharks," she said.

While many questions had been answered, many more were emerging as more information was gathered about the animals' behaviours, she added.