Offshore recreational fisheries of large vulnerable sharks and teleost fish in the Mediterranean Sea: First information on species caught

Abstract

Large-sized pelagic sharks and teleost fish are vulnerable to overexploitation by professional fisheries. To date, however, little is known about the species caught through recreational fishing. The aim of this study is to assess the catch of pelagic sharks and teleost fish in the Mediterranean Sea by recreational fishermen through an analysis of publicly available videos posted on social media. Results revealed that several vulnerable species are caught by offshore recreational fishermen: blue shark (Prionace glauca), shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus), thresher shark (Alopias vulpinus), sixgill shark (Hexanchus griseus), swordfish (Xiphias gladius), and Mediterranean spearfish (Tetrapturus belone). The most commonly caught species are blue shark and swordfish, the majority of which are juvenile and released back to sea. This paper proposes new measures for handling practices in order to protect these species.