50 Years of Collaboration: The National Marine Fisheries Service Cooperative Shark Tagging Program

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program is a collaborative effort between recreational fishermen, the commercial fishing industry, other scientific institutions, and NMFS to study the life history of sharks in the North Atlantic.  The program has been active since 1962 and includes thousands of volunteers along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of North America and Europe.  To date, over 275,000 sharks of 52 species have been tagged and over 15,000 sharks of 33 species have been recaptured.  The rate of recapture ranges from 1% for the blacknose shark to over 13% for the shortfin mako.  Distances traveled for recaptured sharks ranged from no movement to 3,997 nautical miles.  The longest time at liberty for any shark in the program was 27.8 years.  This program provides valuable information on migration and movements of shark species in the North Atlantic.  The need for international cooperation in such work is underscored by the fact that many shark species are widely distributed and frequently traverse national boundaries.  The program also provides valuable biological understanding necessary for proper resource management and highlights over five decades of cooperative research encompassing a variety of participating groups.