Dear All,
We are writing to you in connection with the Shark Research Plan currently being implemented by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) on behalf of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC). The Shark Research Plan is designed to gather all relevant fisheries and biological information about key shark species in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean and to support shark stock assessments and inform future discussion of management measures. For more information about the Shark Research Plan please refer to http://www.wcpfc.int/node/2950 and http://www.wcpfc.int/doc/wcpfc7-2010-16/spc-progress-toward-shark-assessments.
One of our new initiatives under the Shark Research Plan is the Shark Tagging Metadatabase Project. This project is designed to identify sources of biological information for highly migratory shark species through gathering and storing of information about shark tagging. Our aim is not to compile actual tag tracking data, but rather to compile metadata such as the numbers of species and tags attached and recovered, the study area and the type of tag. These metadata will be stored in a database and made freely available online at the conclusion of the project through the SPC website. As these data may be useful in identifying new information for our ongoing stock assessments, we need to work quickly to gather and understand what shark tag may be available and produce the database by the end of June 2011. At the same time, we also hope this metadatabase can assist those who recover tagged sharks or unattached tags to return them to the researchers who attached them. In the longer term, we hope that the database can inform researchers about the existence of similar tagging programmes in other parts of the Pacific and identify data gaps for various species and areas.
downloadlink of the excel-file
We would like to request your assistance in providing some information about tags attached to sharks in the Pacific by you or your colleagues. A suggested list of data fields is provided in the attached spreadsheet. Please feel free to modify these fields to reflect the available data, or to add new fields if necessary. If you do not hold any shark tagging information but can refer us to other researchers who may, we would greatly appreciate hearing from you.
This project is being coordinated at SPC by Ms Lea Protoy so please contact her if you have any questions or require further information. We would be happy to assist you in whatever way we can in finding ways to receive your metadata without taking up large amounts of your time (e.g. linkages to existing web databases). Thank you in advance for your consideration and we look forward to hearing from you!
Best wishes,
Shelley Clarke and Lea Protoy
Shelley Clarke Lea Protoy
Shark Assessment Scientist Shark Assessment Research Assistant
Oceanic Fisheries Programme Oceanic Fisheries Programme
Secretariat of the Pacific Community Secretariat of the Pacific Community
BPD5 CEDEX BPD5 CEDEX
Noumea, New Caledonia 98848 Noumea, New Caledonia 98848
Tel: +687 262000 xt 31328 leap@spc.int
