NMFS Cooperative Shark Tagging Program, 1962-93: An Atlas of Shark Tag and Recapture Data

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Cooperative Shark Tagging Program (CSTP) is part of continuing research directed to the study of the biology of large Atlantic sharks. The CSTP was initiated in 1962 at the Sandy Hook Laboratory in New Jersey under the Department of Interior's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). During the late 1950's and early 1960's, sharks were considered a liability to the economy of resort communities, of little or no commercial value, and a detriment to fishermen in areas where sharks might damage expensive fishing gear or reduce catches of more commercially valuable species. Several shark attacks along the New Jersey coast at that time gave rise to public concern about a perceived shark menace. In response to that concern, a shark longline survey was conducted in 1961 from Jones Inlet, N.Y., to Cape Henlopen, Del., by laboratory staff. The objectives of that study were to determine the species composition, distribution, abundance, food habits, seasonal occurrence, and other aspects of the biology of large sharks off the middle Atlantic states.