Last week a friend messaged me in excitement that he happened to catch a tagged sandbar shark. I sent him the online link to report a NOAA tag via cell phone. I love when this happens. The entire cooperative shark tagging depends on anglers to report tagged fish whenever possible. This is how they gain the most information about their migration & breeding pattern.
Later in the week I heard back from Matt. NOAA had contacted him him information on his catch. He noticed it was caught in Boca Grande in December. Andrew & myself tagged over 10 sharks over the winter. I couldn't help but check my tag numbers and noticed it was in my sequence! This was probably a shark I tagged. Kicking myself because I haven't been recording every tag number as I used to, I wait for the mail to arrive!
Today I was greeted with a package from NOAA. It included recapture sheet and a hat. The sandbar shark I tagged on December 27th 2013 grew four inches and traveled 28 nautical miles before being recaptured by Matt on March 21st
Not every day a friend catches a shark that you tagged a few months earlier. Reporting your tagged catches is crucial to scientific data. You can choose to remove the tag or leave it in the shark and simply write down the numbers. Collect as much data as you can such as length, species and sex of the shark. If you need to report a tagged shark here is their simple online form REPORT TAGS HERE Pictures below of her when I caught her in December and when Matt re caught her in March! I look forward to more recaptures in the future! He choose to leave the tag in place to see if she gets recaptured at a later date.