Nova Scotia's shark derbies: Outdated or essential research tool?

The only shark derbies in Canada will resume in Nova Scotia next month and they're expected to once again attract hundreds of anglers vying for the top prize in the annual events.

But some people are calling for the derbies to be cancelled, citing concerns about the long-term impacts on shark populations.

The derbies, which were cancelled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are scrutinized closely by DFO officials. Scientists say they offer an important window into the status of blue sharks, the species the derbies target.

"The data that we get from the tournaments is a small percentage of what goes into a stock assessment on the blue shark, but it is still an important component of it," said DFO technician Warren Joyce.

DFO has been monitoring Nova Scotia's shark derbies since they started in 1993.

Participants are only allowed to land blue sharks that are at least eight feet long. In 2019, a total of 77 blue sharks were caught and brought to shore in four such events around the province.

Species like the shortfin mako shark and porbeagle shark have been landed during past tournaments, but must now be released due to their designation as endangered species.

Scientists examine, dissect the sharks

The sharks that are landed are not returned to the ocean. Scientists with various institutions take tissue samples from the fish for marine research.

The DFO requires each participant to log information about all sharks, whether they are released or not. This includes the length, sex, and species of shark, as well as where and how it was caught.

Joyce said more than 3,000 undersized sharks have been tagged since 2006 in effort to better understand the potential consequences of catch-and-release angling.

A handful of sharks that are brought back to land are also dissected by DFO officers.

Joyce calls the sharks that are killed a "small dent on the population" and said the deaths represent only about three per cent of the total Canadian fishing mortality for this species.

Research not justified: advocate

The figures are of no comfort to Sarah Reed of Halifax.

Growing up, Reed said it was a summer tradition in her family to attend the shark derby in Lockeport, N.S.

"Even as a kid I never understood what the appeal was seeing these sharks hung up, with blood on the dock and the smell," she said. "I just never got it and I always felt uncomfortable that I was forced to go to them because my family was in commercial fishing in the area."

Reed said she expects if the derbies involved another kind of animal, they would have ended long ago.

"People kind of turn a blind eye to shark derbies because they don't have the same empathy for sharks that they do for something like belugas or dolphins," she said.

Barry Ken MacKay of the Animal Alliance of Canada said the research that is conducted on the sharks doesn't justify killing them.

"We already know what threats are being imposed upon the large fishes of the ocean and what is driving their populations down, and I would like to see us instead focus on working to end those forces," he said.

He said the tournament is tone-deaf in an era of conservation.

"I don't see the sense of continuing hammering these things until they are endangered," he said.

"Why not help them before they get there?"

Major U.S. tournament goes shark-free

The Alabama Deep Sea Fishing Rodeo is the world's largest annual fishing tournament and in recent years eliminated its shark category.

"A while back we had moved to a catch-and-release type program for shark. We did that for a few years for the sake of conservation, and then eventually just moved away from a shark fishing tournament altogether," said Mark Shambeau, the vice-president of publicity for the rodeo.

In the final years of the rodeo's shark category, Shambeau said too many at-risk species were being landed.

"We had a good number of sharks coming in and sometimes some of the small sharks were misidentified and some of the protected and endangered species were being brought in killed," he said.

The rodeo's 88th annual event was held July 16-18 and included more than 4,200 anglers.

Shambeau said some participants have expressed interest in the shark category coming back. He said that would only happen if local scientists didn't think it would impact conservation efforts.

N.S. derbies no threat to shark population: expert

Fred Whoriskey is the executive director of the Ocean Tracking Network at Dalhousie University and said blue sharks are not officially threatened in Canada.

"I don't think the level at which we are running shark derbies are posing dangers to the population," he said.

Blue sharks are the most plentiful large shark off Nova Scotia's coast, according to Whoriskey. But he said that doesn't necessarily mean they are thriving.

"It has become a species of some concern," he said. "It looks like population is diving at this particular point in time and the suspect is over-harvesting through fisheries."

Two derbies this year

There are two DFO-licensed shark derbies taking place off the coast of Nova Scotia this year.

Both are on the South Shore and scheduled for August. Bob Gavel started the Yarmouth Shark Scramble in 1998.

Each year, hundreds of participants compete to catch the largest shark.

"Back when we started it was really big. We had 45 boats and over 200 participants," he said. "In 2019 we had 15 vessels and 115 participants."

The tournament has recently established a limit of three sharks per vessel.

Gavel said the tournament's main function is to provide DFO science with information in regards to the blue shark.

"Everyone is entitled to their opinion," he said. "We are a fishing community here, we don't feel we are hurting the population in any way, and we are providing a service for science."

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