SEA 



SCIENCE 



From his commercial fishing experi- 

 ence, he knows also that sharks frequently 

 damage or destroy costly nets. Yet, he says 

 it's impossible to "go out into this great 

 abyss and stay away from them." 



A buoy marking the last net to be 

 reeled in has been moved a long way from 

 its original placement. Beresoff says this 

 means there could be something big in 

 there. As he pulls it in, however, he finds a 

 large hole in the net and a 

 partially eaten fish. Something 

 big just took a bite and kept 

 going, he says. 



SHARK STUDIES 



The FRG program was 

 created in 1994 by the North 

 Carolina legislature to allow 

 people who work on the water 

 or in fishery-related busi- 

 nesses to test their ideas about 

 preserving coastal resources. 



Perhaps no one has more 

 at stake in protecting fish 

 species from depletion than 

 those who fish for a living. Of 

 their research, Thorpe says the 

 idea is "to find ways that are 

 good for fishermen and also 

 preserve the species." Several 

 FRG projects concern sharks. 



Why sharks? Several 

 shark bite incidents this year 

 have made the public aware of 

 what commercial fishers have 

 known for some time — there 

 are a lot of sharks off the North Carolina 

 coast. Well over 40 species of sharks can 

 be found here. For many, this elicits both 

 fascination and fear. 



Twenty-five years ago Peter 

 Benchley's Jaws gnawed its way into the 

 national subconscious leaving in its wake 

 such stuff as nightmares are made of. With 

 eyes open, however, we find sharks are 

 more often the victims of humans. 



In fact, the market for sharks is so 

 great that biologists fear some species are 

 in danger of depletion — and the loss of 



Several shark bite incidents 

 this year have made the public aware 

 of what commercial fishers have 

 known for some time — 

 there are a lot of sharks 

 off the North Carolina coast. 

 Well over 40 species of sharks 

 can be found here. For many, 

 this elicits both fascination and fear. 



Atlantic sharpnose sharks are frequently 

 caught in fishing nets. 



any species is a disruption to the ecosys- 

 tem. Some might say, we have met Jaws, 

 and Jaws is us. 



The issue is complicated. Anecdotal 

 evidence from commercial fishers seems to 

 contradict concerns of fishery regulatory 

 agencies about shark abundance. 



It's a contradiction that leads to 

 distrust and resentment between regulators 

 and the regulated. It seems accurate 

 population counts could be one of the 

 mysteries of the deep. 



Robert Fournier Jr., director of 



husbandry at the New Jersey State 

 Aquarium, said in a 1999 New York Times 

 article: "We are not against fishing or 

 harvesting seafood, but we want reason- 

 able regulations — and you cannot have 

 that without having information about the 

 fish. In a lot of cases, right now, regula- 

 tions are based on guesswork." 



Even among fishery management 

 councils, questions about shark popula- 

 tions are contentious. 

 Earlier this year the Mid- 

 Atlantic and New England 

 Fisheries Management 

 Councils — which have 

 joint jurisdiction that 

 includes North Carolina — 

 tried to agree upon fishing 

 quotas for the spiny dogfish. 

 That fishery brings in about 

 $10 million annually in 

 North Carolina, according 

 to N.C. Division of Marine 

 Fisheries (DMF) statistics. 



The plan stalled when 

 the mid-Atlantic council 

 recommended a 2.9 million- 

 gg pound yearly limit on spiny 

 dogfish, while the New 

 England council felt a 14 

 million-pound limit was 

 adequate. Then-U.S. 

 Commerce Secretary 

 William Daley settled the 

 dispute with a yearly quota 

 of 4.5 million pounds, 

 according to Chris Batsavage, 

 DMF lead biologist for spiny dogfish. 



Batsavage says the quota discrepan- 

 cies may be more a disagreement about 

 management than about the severity of the 

 depletion of the species. Nevertheless, the 

 disagreement underscores the need for 

 accurate population profiles. But it's not 

 just overall numbers that matter. 



In a previous FRG study. Beresoff 

 and Thorpe found the southeastern coastal 

 region to be a nursery for several shark 

 species, including the Atlantic sharpnose, 



Continued 



COASTWATCH 21 



