Jacksonville Monthly Program - Sharks: Menace or Keystone Species

At St Simons Island, GA there is a team of fishermen who pride themselves on catching sharks - not for the trophy jaws or to rid the ocean of a menace - but for science and fun. The SSI Sharkers Research Team was put together by Tony Burch seven years ago. The actual tagging at the island was started seventeen years ago by Tony and a group of friends volunteering for the National Marine Fisheries Apex Predators Program. The process of tagging at the island was to encourage fishermen to enjoy catching sharks as game fish while releasing them to aid the studies. Research at SSI is conducted March through November including many different species and sizes with blacktips, lemons and Atlantic sharpnose most common. Contrary to popular belief, there is not an endless supply of sharks in the sea. This teamÂ’s goal is to preserve the sharks so they can continue to be the top of the oceanic food chain. Tony will be discussing sharks in detail from misconceptions about attacks to the reasons sharks need protections from humans. At the end of the presentation, there will be a question and answer session on sharks in general as well as specifics about shark conservation in our area. See a map to the church in the FILES section.