Two critically endangered angel sharks have been tagged by local fishermen and Marine Institute scientists in Tralee Bay, Co Kerry.
Dr Ross O’Neill, a licensed tagger with the Marine Institute worked with local fisherman Michael Peter Hennessy from the Maherees on board his boat, the MFV Lady K, to successfully tag a male and a female angel shark caught recently in Tralee Bay.
“This is a landmark moment for marine conservation in Ireland. The angel shark is an incredibly rare species making this recent encounter and successful tagging of two specimens in Tralee Bay all the more important,” said Dr O’Neill.
“The tagging will allow us to track their movements and better understand how we can protect this species from further decline. It’s a crucial step in the preservation of an endangered species. It’s an exciting development not just for Irish marine life but for global conservation efforts.”
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The angel shark is immediately recognisable with its large winglike fins on either side of its body (pectoral fins) resembling those of a ray and it can grow to lengths of up to 2.4m in the case of females and 1.8m in the case of males, and they can live to between 25 and 35 years.
According to Fair Seas, a coalition of Ireland’s leading environmental NGOs, angel sharks are particularly vulnerable as their bottom dwelling nature leads them to bury into sand which is disturbed by destructive fishing methods such as trawling along the seabed.
Fair Seas also pointed out that such fishing methods also destroy their habitats, making it difficult for angel sharks to survive in areas where they once thrived.
Dr O’Neill explained that the angel shark, also known as the “Devil’s Banjo”, is a slow-growing, long-lived fish and that catches of the species by commercial and recreational fishermen were common in the Tralee Bay area historically but numbers had declined dramatically since the 1960s.
He said the tagged angel sharks were released close to their area of capture northwest of the Maharees and swam away strongly. The tags will log and transmit information for the next year on the fish’s preferred habitats and migration, after which they will automatically detach from the fish.
Dr Rick Officer, CEO of the Marine Institute, said it was hoped more specimens of the fish would be tagged in the coming months with the assistance of the local fishing community.
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