Throughout 2016 we have continued to work with sportfishing charter vessels who take paying clients on fishing trips in the Canary Islands.
After successfully launching the best-practice guide to release Angelsharks in Gran Canaria and Tenerife, we have expanded our work to the neighbouring island of Fuerteventura.
During regular visits to the sport fishing charter vessels in the ports of Corralejo, El Castillo and Morro Jable, we have expanded the use of the Best Practice Guide to Release Angelsharks to 8 new sportfishing charter vessels. This quantity of vessels represents almost the 89% of the recreational fishing fleet in Fuerteventura.
The fishers also took an active part in the Angelshark Conservation Workshop, held inJune 2016, by helping us to understand more about the sportfishing charter vessel industry and how to avoid accidentally catching elasmobranchs. All this has been highlighted in Goal 1 of the Angelshark Action Plan for the Canary Islands which focuses on minimizing Angelshark fishing mortality in all sectors.
We would like to thank all sportfishing charter vessels involved in the project for their collaboration to ensure the future of this Critically Endangered species.
We are currently planning the sport fisher activities for 2017, in which we will visit and maintain the contact with all our collaborators in Gran Canaria, Tenerife and Fuerteventura. We also plan to visit sportfishing charter vessels in Lanzaroteto further expand the use of the Best Practice Guide to Release Angelsharks in the archipelago.
