Cooperative Shark Tagging Program
June 18, 2020
The Cooperative Shark Tagging Program (CSTP) is a collaborative effort between recreational anglers, the commercial fishing industry, and NOAA Fisheries to learn more about the life history of Atlantic Sharks.
The Northeast Fisheries Science Center's Apex Predators Program studies the life history and ecology of sharks in the marine and coastal waters of New England and the Mid-Atlantic. In 1962, they began the Cooperative Shark Tagging Program with about 100 volunteer recreational and commercial fishermen, scientists, and fisheries observers. Today they have more than 7000 volunteers contributing data to the Tagging Program.
More than 295,000 sharks, comprising more than 50 species, have been tagged to date. The data from tagging and recapture events have been instrumental in shaping what we know about shark migration and distribution. It also helped to define the essential fish habitat for 38 federally managed shark species. It continues to be used for defining and updating areas designated as essential for shark survival.
More Information
- Highlighting the program
- Shark Atlas
- Shark Identification for Cooperative Shark Tagging Program (A-B)
- Shark Identification for Cooperative Shark Tagging Program (C-P)
- Shark Identification for Cooperative Shark Tagging Program (S-W)