NEW YORK TAKES A STAND FOR PROTECTED SHARKS

 I’ve been fishing for sharks for close to forty years, so I understand why people enjoy it.

Sharks are big, tough fish that can give an angler a workout on reasonable tackle, and they’re often far more available to anglers than tuna, billfish, or tarpon, the other large gamefish of the United States coast.  That’s particularly true in places like the Northeast, where it’s too cold for tarpon and, for most of the season, finding billfish and tuna require long runs to the offshore grounds, while at least a few sharks can often be found within casting distance from shore.

There are a lot fewer sharks around today than there was when I started fishing for them back in the 1970s.  With the exception of common threshers, which are either more abundant or, for some reason, have become more catchable in recent years, every popular shark that we catch off Long Island has become noticeably less abundant.

Out on the ocean, shark fishermen have become noticeably less abundant, too.  A number of well-established shark tournaments, which have been around since the 1960s, have experienced sharp drops in participation, and many are no longer held.  Whether that decline in participation is a response to the declining number of sharks, or to the regulations imposed on some species to slow such decline, is open to speculation.  But there are definitely fewer boats drifting and chumming offshore than there were a few decades ago.

At the same time, there has been a seeming spike in the number of people who fish for sharks from the surf.  Again, the reasons aren’t completely clear.  It’s possible that the decline in the numbers of striped bass and bluefish, particularly during the hottest days of the summer, have sent shorebound anglers in search of alternative targets.  It’s possible that the development of larger, more capable surf fishing gear, and in particular large spinning reels designed for offshore fish, have made catching sharks from the surf easier to do.

There’s little doubt that the Internet has played a big role.  Google a phrase like “shark surf fishing” and you’re sure to get plenty of hits providing links to videos of beach-bound anglers dragging their hard-won catches onto the sand.

And that’s where the problems begin.

For while just about all shark species are suffering from declining abundance, many of the sharks most likely to be caught off the northeastern shore have been particularly hard hit.  Off New York, for example, just about all of the larger sharks caught by surfcasters will be either sand tigers, sandbars (also known as “brown” sharks) or, to a far lesser degree, dusky sharks.  Of those three, both sandbars and duskies are considered overfished, while duskies are also experiencing continued overfishing.  The data surrounding the status of the sand tiger shark is more ambiguous, with some studies showing sharp declines and others finding a more stable population; the fish reproduce very slowly, making it difficult to rebuild a depleted population, but at the same time, sand tigers appear to be less vulnerable to longline bycatch than are most other shark species.

When all factors were taken into account, the National Marine Fisheries Service included all three species on its list of “prohibited sharks” that may not be harvested.

However, such prohibited sharks have still been targeted by shorebound anglers in a catch-and-release fishery that probably causes significant release mortality to species that are already under significant stress.  As noted in a 2020 article that appeared in The New York Times,

“the nature of land-based shark fishing, as opposed to fishing from a boat, brings a high probability that the shark will be harmed at some point between its initial hooking and ultimate release…

“Just because a shark swims away doesn’t mean it will survive for very long afterward, according to shark experts.  Stress and exhaustion from the fight on the line—and abrasions from being dragged up the sand—can leave lasting damage.”

The State of Florida, which hosts many avid surfcasters who target sharks, has released a set of recommendations for handling the fish, which include:

“Keep sharks, especially the gills, in the water,”

“Removing sharks from the water can increase the likelihood of injuries to the shark.”

“Minimize handling and release time and do not delay release just to take pictures.  [emphasis added]”

And

“Do not sit on the shark’s back.”

But anyone who has seen a shark fishing video on YouTube or other Internet site has probably seen anglers perched on sharks’ backs, anglers pulling a shark’s head back at an unnatural angle, wrenching the spine, in order to show off the fish’s teeth, anglers dragging a shark high onto the sand or otherwise behaving in a way likely to injure such fish and make it more likely that they will not survive release.

In 2019, New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection sent out a reminder to anglers which included language saying,

“Species listed as prohibited have all been identified by NOAA as being particularly vulnerable due to a combination of factors that include low reproductive rates (sand tiger sharks); vulnerability to certain fishing practices (angel sharks); stocks previously assessed as overfished and/or overfishing is occurring (sandbar and dusky sharks); or species for which there is a lack of data to make informed regulations…

“’If a prohibited shark species is caught, it must be released immediately without removing it from the water and in a manner that maximizes its chances for survival,’ said Division of Fish and Wildlife Director Dave Golden.  ‘That means keeping it in the water when removing a hook, not taking photos of a shark out of the water and certainly not taking it home.’  [emphasis added]”

Unfortunately, too many anglers appear to be far more interested in preserving a record of their catch for later posting to social media than they are in preserving the captured shark’s life.  The fact that the shark belongs to a prohibited species seems to make little difference in their attitude.

Thus, various states have made efforts to protect prohibited sharks from anglers’ abuses.

New York has recently made a strong statement to those who fish for sharks in the state’s coastal waters, saying in part, that

"Prohibited shark species found in New York State waters include Sandbar ("Brown"), Dusky and Sand Tiger sharks.  Large (non-dogfish) sharks that are caught from shore in New York are usually a prohibited shark species.  Prohibited shark species may also be encountered by boat-based anglers in nearshore waters.

Prohibited shark species are protected from fishing activities by Section 40.7. It is illegal to take or possess prohibited shark species. “Take" is defined in New York’s Environmental Conservation Law Section 11-0103 (13) and includes pursuing, killing, and capturing sharks. It also includes all lesser acts such as disturbing, harrying, or worrying, or using any device commonly used to take sharks. Any angler who is making an effort to catch a prohibited shark species is pursuing or targeting that species in violation of 6 NYCRR 40.7(c)(1). Do not fish for or target prohibited sharks in New York waters. Intentional catch and release of prohibited sharks is likewise illegal.

 If a prohibited shark is hooked, the angler must release the prohibited shark immediately and in a manner that maximizes the shark’s chance of survival. Do not tag prohibited sharks or delay release to take pictures...”

While it would be nice to believe that the entire angling community would have enough respect for the resource to forego fishing for prohibited shark species, that’s clearly not the case; there has already been pushback to New York’s recent efforts, with some anglers trying to deflect the blame by pointing fingers at commercial fishermen, who take sharks as bycatch, and others arguing that they are fishing for other species, and just can’t help it if a prohibited shark takes their bait.

On a coast where all but a very small percentage—undoubtedly less than 5 percent, with 1 or 2 percent more likely—of all sharks caught from the beach are non-prohibited species, the latter is a pathetically poor argument, while pointing fingers at the commercial fleet seems almost childish, for only a childish mind would try to excuse their own wrong by arguing that someone else did wrong, too.

Still, despite such resistance, I can only thank New York for taking a strong stand on the prohibited shark issue, and I can only hope that the next action that it takes will be in the enforcement arena.