Whitney et al.: Mortality of Carcharhinus limbatus caught in the Florida recreational fishery 
537 
Table 1 
Data records of individual blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) caught and released between September 2011 and April 
2013 at 2 sites off Florida: Charlotte Harbor and surrounding waters in the Gulf of Mexico and off Cape Canaveral in the 
Atlantic Ocean. Mortalities are in bold and italics. Sharks were measured in precaudal length. BRCS=behavioral release 
condition score; pC0 2 =partial pressure of carbon dioxide. Recovery period is the averaged behavioral recovery period for 
that individual over all 19 behavioral metrics and was only calculated for sharks with recording periods over 12 h. 
ID 
Length 
(cm) 
Temp 
( fi C) 
Hook 
type 
Fight 
time 
(min) 
Handling 
time 
(min) 
BRCS 
pH 
pC0 2 
(mmHg) 
Lactate 
(mmol/L) 
Recording 
period 
(h) 
Recovery 
period 
(h) 
SOI 
129 
29.6 
J 
13 
18 
2 
7.1 
5.06 
8.57 
10.4 
S02 
97 
29.9 
C 
6 
12 
1 
7.18 
6.01 
5.67 
11.4 
- 
S03 
102 
25.2 
C 
5 
9 
1 
7.29 
5.85 
5.62 
21.4 
13.4 
S04 
92 
25.0 
c 
3 
14 
3 
7.18 
4.44 
7.53 
35.9 
14.0 
S05 
132 
25.2 
c 
11 
13 
1 
7.17 
4.3 
7.48 
57.9 
8.7 
S06 
98 
25.3 
c 
5 
9 
2 
7.34 
5.99 
3.18 
8.6 
- 
S07 
106 
24.7 
J 
6 
8 
1 
7.18 
4.61 
6.76 
13.8 
14.2 
S08 
93 
24.7 
c 
4 
10 
1 
7.15 
4.73 
8.27 
27.8 
12.5 
S09t 
95 
25.3 
J 
2 
10 
1 
7.06 
6.29 
3.62 
54.6 
8.4 
S10 
101 
25.4 
J 
4 
6 
1 
7.25 
6.32 
2.72 
51.8 
11.8 
SIP 
99 
25.9 
J 
4 
9 
1 
7.03 
10.65 
5.05 
7.1 
- 
S12 
92 
25.9 
J 
4 
10 
1 
7.09 
10.28 
4.4 
7.4 
- 
S13 
108 
25.9 
J 
9 
9 
1 
7.31 
6.09 
4.81 
10.7 
- 
S14 
128 
25.1 
J 
6 
8 
1 
7.34 
4.4 
4.08 
19.9 
7.0 
S15 
119 
24.8 
J 
7 
9 
1 
7.27 
6.98 
2.97 
18.8 
9.2 
S16 
112 
29.8 
c 
16 
9 
2 
7.14 
4.82 
8.77 
9.5 
- 
S17 
110 
29.1 
J 
10 
9 
3 
7.1 
10.55 
5.59 
54.1 
10.2 
S18 
120 
29.3 
J 
13 
11 
2 
7.02 
6.85 
10.71 
2.7 
- 
S19 
105 
29.3 
J 
8 
6 
1 
7.18 
11.64 
3.07 
49.4 
7.2 
S20 
120 
28.9 
c 
5 
6 
1 
7.28 
4.91 
3.34 
10.7 
- 
S21 + 
105 
27.0 
J 
10 
10 
2 
7.26 
5.88 
4.74 
71.7 
9.0 
S22 
92 
27.2 
c 
5 
6 
2 
7.16 
8.08 
4.77 
68.3 
12.8 
S23 
114 
27.1 
c 
10 
9 
1 
7.22 
6.03 
4.53 
67.7 
12.2 
S24 
113 
26.8 
J 
10 
10 
1 
7.28 
6.08 
4.46 
11.9 
- 
S25 
100 
26.2 
J 
4 
6 
1 
7.26 
5.61 
4.42 
67.3 
15.9 
S26 
102 
27.6 
c 
6 
8 
3 
7.25 
6.23 
4.98 
11.4 
- 
S27 
103 
27.4 
c 
5 
7 
2 
7.14 
11.37 
4.02 
9 
- 
S28 
108 
27.3 
c 
12 
8 
4 
7.21 
7.2 
4.52 
10.4 
- 
S29 
108 
27.3 
J 
12 
10 
3 
7.24 
6.87 
4.92 
10.7 
- 
S30 
109 
27.3 
c 
7 
7 
2 
7.2 
7.13 
4.73 
27.3 
11.1 
S31 
122 
27.2 
J 
11 
7 
1 
7.36 
4.82 
3.83 
27.2 
9.4 
Mean 
107.5 
26.9 
7.5 
9.1 
1.6 
7.20 
6.65 
5.23 
28.0 
11.0 
SD 
11.2 
1.7 
3.5 
2.6 
0.8 
0.09 
2.12 
1.93 
22.6 
2.6 
'Denotes a shark that was gut hooked. The hook was not removed in all 3 cases. 
maximum vertical velocity, and the number of ODBA 
bursts. Increasing handling time and La - corresponded 
with longer recovery periods along PCI, whereas de¬ 
creasing temperature, and gut-hooking corresponded 
with longer recovery times along PC2 (Fig. 6). As found 
through GLM, increasing animal size correlated with 
shorter recovery times along PCI and PC2. However, 
certain at-vessel capture metrics (pH, pC02, BRCS and 
hook-type) correlated poorly with the first 2 recovery 
period PCs. 
Discussion 
In this study, we documented 3 postrelease mortali¬ 
ties out of 31 capture and releases (9.7% mortality) for 
blacktip sharks caught on rod and reel in the Florida 
recreational fishery. Our results are consistent with 
mortality rates for other elasmobranchs caught on rod 
and reel, such as 10% for Atlantic sharpnose sharks 
(Rhizoprionodon terraenovae ; Gurshin and Szedlmay- 
er, 2004), 10% for shortfin makos (Isurus oxyrinchus; 
