The tracking data remains to be published. Nevertheless, the preliminary results
show that although some sharks migrated over long distances, mainly along the
continental slope, none of the tagged sharks crossed the Strait of Gibraltar or entered
the eastern Mediterranean. This result suggests that fishing mortality should be
managed at local and regional scales.
Figure 21.11 shows the estimated tracks over 297 days of a small female blue
shark (fork length 137 cm) tagged in December 2015. This shark was caught by a
commercial Spanish longliner during a routine fishing operation. The shark was
equipped with SPOT 5 tag (Wildlife Computers, Redmond, Washington, USA)
programmed to communicate every 2 days with ARGOS satellites when the shark’s
dorsal fin broke surface. The first location was obtained 10 days after tag deployment. This shark stayed in the Alboran Sea until February before migrating to the
Balearic Islands for almost 3 months. In May it went to the Gulf of Lion where it
Fig. 21.11 Estimated tracks over 209 days of a small female blue shark (fork length 137 cm)
equipped with a SPOT 5 tag in December 2015 in the south of Malaga (Spain) (original data)
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J. C. Báez et al.
show that although some sharks migrated over long distances, mainly along the
continental slope, none of the tagged sharks crossed the Strait of Gibraltar or entered
the eastern Mediterranean. This result suggests that fishing mortality should be
managed at local and regional scales.
Figure 21.11 shows the estimated tracks over 297 days of a small female blue
shark (fork length 137 cm) tagged in December 2015. This shark was caught by a
commercial Spanish longliner during a routine fishing operation. The shark was
equipped with SPOT 5 tag (Wildlife Computers, Redmond, Washington, USA)
programmed to communicate every 2 days with ARGOS satellites when the shark’s
dorsal fin broke surface. The first location was obtained 10 days after tag deployment. This shark stayed in the Alboran Sea until February before migrating to the
Balearic Islands for almost 3 months. In May it went to the Gulf of Lion where it
Fig. 21.11 Estimated tracks over 209 days of a small female blue shark (fork length 137 cm)
equipped with a SPOT 5 tag in December 2015 in the south of Malaga (Spain) (original data)
734
J. C. Báez et al.