The Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network (SSACN) are delighted to announce they have been awarded a funding package worth £52,000 to help support their data gathering on species of sharks, skates and rays found in Scottish waters, many of which are at risk.
The funding has been offered by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and the Argyll and the Islands LEADER Programme and will be used to employ a Shark Project Officer who will work with SSACN to further develop the Scottish Shark Tagging Programme (SSTP) whose objectives are to :
• Record data on shark, skate and ray species
• Increase public awareness
• Highlight the need for species protection
• Encourage use of “codes of best practice”
• Showcase conservation methods and efforts
Project Director Ian Burrett “SSACN has long campaigned for programmes aimed at regenerating the stocks of Scotland’s sharks; unfortunately the government and fisheries managers say they are unable to act as they say they lack the necessary scientific data and have no programme in place to gather it.
“Thanks to our funding partners and the many anglers who support our efforts, we shall be gathering that data for them.”
Tagging is the only non-destructive means of gathering the necessary data. It will be undertaken by volunteer sea anglers – fishing from the shore, kayaks or boats – who will catch, tag and release various shark, skate and ray species, either as part of their normal fishing trips or during major tagging events coordinated by the Shark Project Officer and SSACN.
The duties of the Shark Project Officer will also include arranging training workshops for anglers and raising awareness of Scottish sharks, skates and rays by liaising with fishermen, and visiting schools in Argyll.
Jane Dodd, SNH Marine Project Officer for Argyll and Stirling said: “We are hoping to recruit a dynamic project officer to lead this exciting project. Someone with project management skills and at least an interest in sea angling and a willingness to do some boat based field work. Quite an unusual range of skills to be found in a single person but we have our fingers crossed that he or she is out there!
“Anyone interested in applying should visit the SNH website www.snh.org.uk”
Fishingmagic notes –
The Scottish Sea Angling Conservation Network (SSACN) is a Charity registered in Scotland.
SSACN was established to lead a unified, coordinated and comprehensive approach to international, national and local conservation issues which may affect recreational sea angling in Scotland.
SSACN campaigns and works with statutory bodies for the continual improvement of Scottish recreational sea angling fisheries and access for all anglers to them so that sea anglers can effectively enjoy their sport within fisheries managed for the benefit of all and not just a select few commercial interests.
Scottish Shark Tagging Programme (SSTP) :
The SSTP is part of SSACN; its aim is to tag and record data on many of the shark, skate and ray species found in Scottish coastal waters. Although many anglers have a deep understanding of sharks and their movements and have long recognised that there are issues with the stocks of many species, governments will only accept scientific data before they will consider implementing shark conservation policies.
Tagging is the only non-destructive assessment of sharks available which will help provide data such as :
• Species migrations
• Growth rates
• Population and stock make-up
• Stock fluctuations dynamics
As no scientific body can afford to pay scientists/marine biologists to effectively tag and release large numbers of fish, the SSTP has been formed to encourage anglers to get involved out of their love for the fish.
SSACN run two major annual tagging events :
The Tagathon weekend :
Takes place in late autumn and is centred around Lochs Sunart and Etive. The main target of the event is spurdog which are currently around 5% of their historical biomass and evidence from anglers suggests that Lochs Sunnart and Etive and surrounding waters have unique resident populations and that the spurdog pup in the region.
The Sharkatag weekend :: Takes place around mid-summer from marks around the Solway and SW Scotland with the focus on tagging tope, smoothound and collecting data on other shark species.
On either weekend, anglers fish from the shore, kayaks or boats and though the main aim of the weekend is to tag as many sharks as possible, they are also intended to raise the public awareness of the urgent need for sharks, ray and skate protection in Scottish waters.
Sea Angling in Scotland :
Recreational sea angling is a selective, environmentally friendly and low-impact fishing activity, it is the number one coastal recreation activity in Scotland and is of great social and economic importance.
Scotland should be a major sea angling centre based around species that are not readily available elsewhere in the British Isles, but lack of stocks through inefficient and ineffective fisheries management has left many species virtually extinct and many areas barren and fishless.
Sea angling supports many livelihoods and business opportunities and contributes more than £150 million / yr to the Scottish economy; over £20 million / yr is being lost to the Scottish economy through the lack of fish stocks and facilities.
