The IUCN/SSC Shark Specialist Group
Shark News 11: July 1998
|
Elasmobranch research conservation efforts National Aquarium Baltimore
Alan D. Henningsen and Kimberly Morris-Zarneke, National Aquarium in Baltimore, USA
Human populations have profound and often destructive effects on natural habitats worldwide.
Zoos and aquariums have both the capacity and the responsibility to increase public awareness of these issues, and to implement programmes that connect their institutions to conservation activities.
Blue shark Prionace glauca © 1989 by Sid Cook.
All rights reserved.
|
The National Aquarium in Baltimore (NAIB) promotes conservation of elasmobranchs through educational programmes for school children, member lectures, and exhibitry.
The Aquarium's two major display tanks for cartilaginous fishes, the 985,000 litre Central Elasmobranch Exhibit and the 852,000 litre Open Ocean Exhibit, house ten shark species (23 individuals) and 12 batoid species (79 individuals).
These exhibits offer visitors a realistic perception of sharks of the region and increases awareness of shark life history patterns.
NAIB supports elasmobranch conservation through staff
involvement with such pioneer groups in elasmobranch
conservation as the American Elasmobranch Society, the Shark
Specialist Group of the IUCN, and the Center for Marine
Conservation. The Aquarium supported the 1993 Fishery
Management Plan for Sharks in the Atlantic Ocean and the 1997
amendment to reduce fishing quotas for sharks, and supports
development of a conservation plan for the spiny dogfish Squalus
acanthias.
The National Aquarium in Baltimore is located near the
Chesapeake and Delaware bays, which are important nursery
areas for the sandbar shark Carcharhinus plumbeus, and other
migratory coastal species. For the past 16 years, NAIB has
collected elasmobranchs for display using bottom set longlines in
the Delaware Bay. A summary of this work was presented by
Henningsen et al. (1996). In addition to capturing animals for
display, over 250 sharks have been tagged in conjunction with the
National Marine Fisheries Service Apex Predator Investigation
Program. Juvenile sandbar sharks are maintained in captivity for
one year, and then tagged and released into the Delaware Bay.
During their stay in captivity, information is collected on their
growth and food intake as well as tag shedding. The work in the
Delaware Bay has also been used to gather data on biology and
reproductive physiology (endocrinology). Blood samples collected
from wild-caught sharks are examined for cell morphology, counts
and distribution. There is little clinical information on elasmobranch
haematology; these data serve as a reference for health assessment
of the NAIB collection sharks. Information gathered by the National
Aquarium in Baltimore is shared through conference presentations
and journal publications.
Reference
Henningsen, A., Hecker, B., Hampton, P., and Jones, R.T. 1996. Survey of
large coastal sharks in the Delaware Bay by longline. Proceedings of
the 76th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Ichthyologists
and Herpetologists, 12th Annual Meeting of the American
Elasmobranch Society, New Orleans, LA, June 13-19. p. 171 (abstract).
Alan D. Henningsen and Kimberly Morris-Zarneke,
Biological Programs, National Aquarium in Baltimore,
Pier 3, 501 E. Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA.
Fax: +1-410-576-1080
Email: ahenningsen@aqua.org
|
|
|
|
|
