New government rules spell an end to Nova Scotia’s signature shark fishing derbies
Nova Scotia’s shark derbies, which for 30 years offered fishermen the chance to land one of the ocean’s largest predators, have been called off after authorities determined they no longer served a scientific purpose.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada had authorized the shark fishing tournaments by issuing scientific permits so that the animals could be studied after they were caught. But the department has informed derby organizers that its research program no longer needs derby-caught specimens.
The organizers of the Yarmouth Shark Scramble in southwestern Nova Scotia, the Petit de Grat Shark Derby in Cape Breton, and the Lockeport Sea Derby in Shelburne County were given three options for how to proceed: follow a catch and release model in which the sharks are not t leave the water; use all sharks caught for human consumption; or find another organization to support research on the captured sharks.
“The decision as to whether or not to proceed with any of these options — and the request for an applicable license requirement — rests with the shark tournament organizers,” the department said in an emailed statement. The department declined to make anyone available for an in-interview.
Bob Gavel, organizer of the Yarmouth Shark Scramble, said he was extremely disappointed by the government directive. He said it is impossible for any of the province’s shark derbies to meet the conditions proposed by the Fisheries Department.
For conservation reasons, tournament participants have only been allowed to catch blue sharks since 2018, and Gavel said there isn’t enough demand for the meat to consume all the meat caught. He said it would be too dangerous to tag and release sharks aboard the overcrowded fishing boats. And no other organization is interested in the sharks for research, he said.
The tournaments in August were unique in Canada. “We have people from all over Canada and the United States who have come to the tournament, even from Australia,” said Gavel. “We have thousands of spectators every year. It generated a lot of revenue for our communities related to restaurants, hotels, fuel – people buying souvenirs and just having the people in our town created quite an economic boost for us.
The Lockeport Sea Derby said on its Facebook page that there would be no shark fishing this year due to the new rules, and the Petit de Grat Shark Derby said the tournament would not be held this year due to the new licensing requirements.
Gavel called Fisheries and Oceans Canada’s stipulations for the tournaments unfair, noting that the blue shark population was not affected by the derbies.
A department report released this year on shark tournament landings found that the derbies “accounted for three percent of blue sharks killed annually in Canada, with a negligible effect on the overall population.” Department officials have said in the past that most blue sharks killed in Canada were hooked by fishing boats that use long lines to catch swordfish and tuna.
Gavel started the Yarmouth tournament in 1998 and has seen it adapt over the years. At the start of the tournament, four types of sharks could be landed: mako shark, porbeagle, blue shark and fox.
In 2004, the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada rated the porbeagle as endangered, and two years later, tournament organizing committees voluntarily excluded the species from landings to promote conservation, the DFO report said. Similar conservation concerns for the mackerel mackerel and thresher led to permit conditions being changed in 2018 to allow only blue shark landings.
According to the report, organizers also imposed additional restrictions to promote conservation, including increasing the minimum size of shark landings to three meters in length and allowing one shark per participant and three per boat.
Gavel said the tournament was primarily a way for anglers to spend time on the water with their families. “We are a small fishing community and the fishermen are just doing their jobs,” he said. “But this was a way for them to take their families and stuff to go out and have fun.”
Records showed that since the beginning of the first tournaments in 1993, a total of 4,266 sharks have landed around Nova Scotia, including 4,193 blue sharks, 52 shortfin mako sharks, 15 porbeagles and six common threshers.
Between 1993 and 2005, the report said landings consisted of immature males and females, as well as adult males. Females of reproductive age were not captured “because of their absence in Canadian waters,” the report said.
Gavel remembers the first time he reeled in a shark.
“Oh, it’s quite an adrenaline rush,” he said. “To catch something that big, sometimes it takes you three or four hours to land it. To catch a shark that weighs anywhere from 200 to over 300 to 400 pounds and land it. It’s that kind of adrenaline. It’s quite tiring. And it’s a lot of fun.”
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 14, 2023.
