About Shark, Skate and Ray Tagging

We want records for all of our sharks, skates and rays - either from shore or boat fishing. This includes working with licensed anglers to tag Common Skate, as well as the non-regulated species such as Porbeagle, Spurdog, Tope, Blackmouth Dogfish, Bullhuss and the many kinds of rays around our coast. We’re even interested in tagging the Lesser-Spotted Dogfish. Although this species is very common, the high numbers will increase our chance of recaptures which will help us understand how they move around our shores - information that could prove useful for other less common species as well.

Your personal information and contact details will be kept strictly confidential and will not be shared with any other groups - see our privacy notice for further information. The tagging information that you provide (including species, tag number, location etc.) will be held by Ulster Wildlife and used to identify important areas for species of sharks, skates and rays around our coast. We will make this information public by providing it to the Centre for Environmental Data and Recording (CEDaR) which is the Local Records Centre (LRC) for Northern Ireland. Exact fishing locations will be kept confidential and only given to the nearest 10 km when shared publicly.

Your exact fishing marks will never be made public. We will only share fishing locations with the Department of Agriculture, Environment & Rural Affairs (DAERA). This is necessary to inform the development of new management measures to conserve these species. Fishing marks will not be shared with any other groups and will be given to the nearest 10 km in any public communication of the data.

The tagging data collected by sea anglers as part of this project will be used to improve the conservation and management measures for sharks, skates and rays around our coasts. Our tagging training will use best practice techniques that have been shown to not damage the condition of the fish. Therefore we will be promoting the continued use of sea anglers and tagging to monitor the effect of any new conservation measures that may come into force in the future.

Currently, there are restrictions on three species -  Basking shark, Common skate, and Angel shark  - which means it is an offence to intentionally target them without an appropriate wildlife licence from DAERA.