THE INCIDENT THIS week, where a man was bitten by a blue shark on an angling boat off the coast of Waterford, has put a spotlight on recreational fishing for sharks in Irish waters.

Although not a happy encounter for the fisherman concerned, who needed airlifting to hospital, while also highlighting unnecessary media sensationalism around anything to do with sharks, it has brought welcome publicity for a group of animals that get too little attention when compared to their importance in marine ecosystems.

Sharks, and their closely related cousins rays and skates, are fish but are unusual in that their skeletons are made of cartilage rather than bone. Some of the biggest fish in the sea are sharks (such as basking sharks), while others are small, like the cat sharks that grow no more than the length of your arm.

Many species are long-lived; some give birth to live young, some live solitary lives wandering the oceans and others live in shoals and will gather in certain locations to breed, feed or give birth.

Young Cat Shark. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Generally speaking, little is known about the lives of sharks and rays compared to similar-sized animals on dry land, but what is commonly accepted is their role as top predators in the marine environment. A healthy marine ecosystem has healthy populations of sharks and rays. 

Sharks are in trouble

In 2016, a team led by the National Parks and Wildlife Service evaluated the populations of 58 species of sharks and rays in Irish waters; a figure that will come........

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