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More than 1000 sharks captured and tagged by SAAMBR
1158 ragged-tooth sharks have been captured and tagged by the Oceanographic Research Institute’s Cooperative Fish Tagging Project (ORI-CFTP) in collaboration with the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR).
THE Oceanographic Research Institute’s Cooperative Fish Tagging Project (ORI-CFTP) in collaboration with the South African Association for Marine Biological Research (SAAMBR) has successfully recaptured and released 1158 ragged-tooth sharks.
According to the SAAMBR, information from the project allows scientists to learn more about the movement patterns, growth rates, mortality rates, and population dynamics of the important fish species. SAAMBR said this valuable information is used by scientists and managers for policy and decision-making. The project has also helped towards changing the ethics of anglers with regard to catch-and-release and contributes to sustainable fishing.
SAAMBR said the capturing and tagging of ragged-tooth sharks show a typical defined and distinct migration pattern followed by ragged-tooth sharks.
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The Oceanographic Research Institute said each year after spending time in the warm waters of Mozambique, pregnant female ragged-tooth sharks leave these waters to migrate to the cooler waters of the Eastern Cape to give birth.
“Pregnant females move northward, after mating in October-November, to spend the first part of their gestation in warmer waters of northern KwaZulu-Natal and southern Mozambique.
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“Ragged-tooth sharks are wide-ranging and found in temperate and sub-tropical coastal waters of the Eastern and Western Atlantic, Mediterranean, Indian and Indo-West Pacific,” said the institute.
The ORI said that while ragged-tooth sharks have recently been globally evaluated as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List (2021), it is believed that the South African population is more stable. Raggies are decommercialized (no-sale) species in South African waters.
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