High survivorship of sandbar sharks (Carcharhinus plumbeus) following catch and release in a growing land-based fishery in Massachusetts

land - based recreational catch -and -release fishing for sandbar sharks (Carcharhinus plumbeus) is growing in popularity in Massachusetts. Working with 21 volunteer fishermen of varying experience levels, we observed and documented the fishing gear, tackle, and techniques used to catch and release 67 sandbar sharks. The postrelease fate of each shark was monitored by using an acceleration data logger (ADL) tag embedded in a custom float package that was secured to the first dorsal fin with a galvanic timed release. All 67 packages were recovered after detachment following monitoring periods of 0.15-9.98 d. Examination of the depth, tailbeat period (TBP), pitch, and roll time series from 65 ADLs that recorded data revealed high survivorship for tagged sharks, with all of them alive at the time of tag detachment. Behavioral recovery was estimated to have occurred at an average of 6.36 h after release on the basis of trends in TBP for 54 sandbar sharks with at least 10 h of postrelease acceleration data. These results indicate that sandbar sharks are remarkably resilient to catch and release in the land - based shark fishery in Massachusetts.