Shark Rally 2015 Land Based Shark Fishing Tournament

Hello South Florida Shark Club Members,

My name is Adam Catasus and I am a senior at Florida Gulf Coast University getting my bachelor’s degree in Marine Science (B.S.). I intend to further my studies by getting my master’s degree and PhD in the fields of environmental science, marine science, or biology. I have actively been participating in marine ecosystem research for over two years, specifically in Caribbean coral reefs, trying to understand Caribbean ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) and Caribbean Gambierdiscus sp. in the Florida Keys. I have an extreme passion for marine ecosystems, especially the fragile coral reef habitats, which has led me to being interested in the population dynamics and ecology of shark populations in southwest Florida. I was also introduced to this hobby by multiple friends who had told me it is a life changing experience catching, tagging, and releasing the perfect apex predator of the ocean, sharks. Ever seen that first experience, I have been hungry and striving to try and have a better scientific understanding of shark ecology. The overall goal of this tournament that I am hoping for is to shorten the gap between recreational shark fishermen and the scientific community that studies them throughout Florida. I believe that creating a better understanding of these amazing organisms will eventually lead to effective and efficient environmental policy making by creating and stating scientific data about shark populations.

This semester I am taking a class called Foundations of Civic Engagement where students must find local organizations to aid in their causes and/or goals. For this class, I am partnering up with NOAA's Apex Predator Program (APP) to tag and release sharks off the west coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. I plan on hosting and running a land based shark fishing tournament that would allow sharks to be caught and released by anglers who have the chance to tag sharks for NOAA's APP. The tournament would have no cash prizes for the winners since the reason for the tournament is for research and the study of shark populations, such as the abundance of shark species, species-specific migrations/movements, and the growth and length of sharks, in the Gulf of Mexico. I am hopeful that the shark fishing community would be willing to actively participate in this tournament. This tournament is a registered Atlantic Highly Migratory Species (HMS) Tournament through NOAA’s Fisheries program ( http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/compli ... urnaments/). The reason I want to conduct this tournament is because I am very passionate about shark fishing, which I know many members of SFSC have similar intense passion. I believe that the general public needs to realize the ecological importance of sharks in marine ecosystems and also the excitement that comes from shark fishing.

All funding and money that is put towards this tournament is helping in conducting the tournament, which includes the purchasing of prizes, tournament t-shirts, and research tags from NOAA’s Apex Predator Program. All proceeds and aid is going to help conduct large scale research in trying to better understand shark populations in the understudied Gulf of Mexico in the region of southwest Florida. A majority of the tagged sharks in Florida are found on the east coast of Florida because the program has spread quickly there as compared to the Gulf of Mexico where many shark fishermen have never heard of the Apex Predator Program. I believe that this tournament will shed light on the Apex Predator Program and will hopefully spark interest in more shark fishermen to catch, tag, and release sharks along the Gulf coast of Florida.

The location of where this tournament will be held is along the southwest coast of Florida along the Gulf of Mexico, from Anna Maria Island, Florida to Marco Island, Florida. The anglers that will be placed and win prizes will be as follows: 1st place is largest shark caught (determined by total length; tip of nose to tip of caudal fin), 2nd place is the most sharks caught during the tournament (highest number of sharks caught between March 28th and March 29th), 3rd place is the largest non-target species (total Length; examples are Tarpon, Goliath Grouper, etc.). Anglers must post pictures on the tournaments Facebook group (Shark Rally 2015) of sharks or non-target species using measuring tape that easily indicates every foot for length along with the tournaments secret item. At the end of the tournament all of NOAA’s research tag data cards will be gathered together for data collection and then sent back to NOAA’s Apex Predator Program.

I am writing in the South Florida Shark Club forum because I believe it would be a perfect outlet for this tournament. This is a great cause in shark research in southwest Florida which has been unprecedented for some time. If anyone needs to get in contact with me at any time for questions or follow up please email me at abcatasus@gmail.com or message me on Facebook at Adam Catasus. There is a Facebook group that has been created for the tournament where all announcements and posts will be made during the tournament, which is called “Shark Rally 2015” ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/801913513213956/ ). The first captains meeting is this Friday (March 20th, 2015) at Florida Gulf Coast University’s campus in Fort Myers, Florida and a second meeting will be Thursday (March 26th, 2015) at Longboat Key in Sarasota, Florida. I hope that all members will consider this opportunity to partner up for a great cause.

Thank you so much

Adam Catasus