March 3, 2014 — Scientists aren’t certain of blacktip status on the Atlantic coast, but anglers there are seeing more and more each year. A formal assessment is expected after 2014.
This wasn’t just another shark. Not for Christen Duxbury—it was her first.
For Capt. Jonnie Walker, a 40-year guide in Sarasota, the fish was one of a growing number of blacktips intercepting baits in recent years. Clearly, blacktips are booming and science tells us that is in fact the case.
From where I was standing, in the bow of Walker’s tidy center console, Christen’s catch was the happy conclusion to a dramatic fishery management story. Twenty years ago, the future of blacktip shark looked bleak, mired in commercial overfishing.
Today, handling light trolling gear like a pro, Christen reeled a 30-pounder boatside, where Walker reached out with longnose pliers and twisted the hook free. The strong fish whipped its tail, delivering something like a celebratory shower on guide and angler, before disappearing back into the dusty, blue-green water.
Around us, the scene looked like something out of the good ol’ days: Dozens of small boats clustered up within a few miles of shore, fishing the Spanish mackerel migration. Most of the anglers were using live pilchards on single hooks. And most were fishing for sport, selecting a few mackerel for the table, releasing most everything.
Along with countless mackerel, we caught four blacktips on Walker’s boat, and let all of them go. Under different circumstances, I might’ve been inclined to keep one for the table. That blacktips are quite good to eat is no big secret. In fact, the appeal of their firm, white flesh—and a stupid fixation for their fins—caused a commercial fishery to spiral out of control during the 1980s.
The blacktip is a member of the Carcharhinidae family, which includes bull and dusky shark; among them, blacktips are smaller, but as fish go, they’re still pretty impressive, frequently reaching 100 pounds, occasionally topping 200. They are strong and fast on the line, and frequently jump early in the fight. A May 2012 stock assessment for blacktip in the Gulf of Mexico indicated the species is “neither overfished nor undergoing overfishing.” In the choppy parlance of contemporary fish management, that’s a way of saying, “Blacktips are out of trouble.” For now, anyway.
Scientists aren’t certain of blacktip status on the Atlantic coast, but anglers there are seeing more and more each year. A formal assessment is expected after 2014.
Blacktip shark is managed by the Highly Migratory Species Division of the National Marine Fisheries Service. The HMS Division makes fishing regulations for species whose nomadic lifestyles make them vulnerable to fishing pressure across many geographic boundaries—domestic as well as international.