The large numbers of salmon sharks observed in the mids in Prince William Sound gave rise to the idea of a commercial harvest. In , a Cordova processor identified a market for salmon shark flesh. Using purse seine gear, fishermen were reported to have caught as many as 50 sharks in one set.
However, the Alaska Board of Fish closed the fishery in due to a lack of information on salmon sharks. Sportfishing charter companies, however, are still doing brisk business targeting salmon sharks. Most charters operate out of Seward, Valdez, Cordova and Kodiak.
Shark flesh has a high urea content, so bleeding and gutting must take place immediately, lest hundreds of pounds of meat go to waste.
Properly processed salmon shark flesh is said to taste like swordfish, and freezes well. Subscribe to be notified about new issues Receive a monthly notice about new issues and articles. Editor: Riley Woodford West 8th St. Juneau, AK Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Hide Section Navigation. By Amy Carroll. Ahmasuk says the hunters were looking for seal, when they saw a Steller sea lion leap out of the water.
The hunters saw what appeared to be a foot long shark, which is consistent with the size of a great white. Sign in. Forgot your password? Get help. Password recovery. We are investigating the population stock structure through next generation genomics and examining alternative methods for age estimation, as well as collaborating with universities and other organizations on investigations of discard mortality and physiology.
Spiny dogfish are the primary shark species in the Gulf of Alaska. They are long-lived and slow growing species, living to years or more and not reaching sexual maturity until 36 years. Reproduction is also slow for this species: gestation takes nearly 2 years, with an average of about 9 pups per pregnancy, and recent studies have suggested that they can skip-spawn, further slowing the reproductive processes.
This species has been heavily fished in both British Columbia and Washington State, but other than a few sporadic attempts at directed fishing in the Gulf of Alaska, they are caught only as bycatch by fishermen targeting other species in the Gulf of Alaska. We have deployed satellite tags on spiny dogfish since to observe their migration and habitat use. Besides tracking movements, the tags record the temperatures, depths and light levels that the shark experiences.
We are developing movement models which incorporate oceanographic conditions to supplement the tag data and estimate movement paths. The habitat use and migration data will inform the Essential Fish Habitat for the species and provide managers information on the interjurisdictional movement of the species.
Salmon sharks are rarely encountered in surveys in federal waters, and occasionally caught in trawl fisheries in the Bering Sea.
The species is more commonly caught in Alaska state salmon fisheries and in nearshore waters. None of these species are targeted for commercial fishing, but there is a small charter fishing industry for salmon sharks. Alaska Fish and Game biologist Dr. Ken Goldman has been studying sharks in Alaska for decades and the salmon shark in particular. So they are warm blooded like mammals.
Goldman says though sharks have been in Alaska waters for tens of millions of years, not that much is known about them. Courtney is currently conducting shark research in Florida; he says he encounters people all the time who are surprised to hear that Alaska has sharks. And the same with sleeper sharks, because you very rarely see them. I think that because there is no danger, the most press these species get is when they interact with commercial fisheries and are usually causing problems.
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