Anglers who want to help marine conservation are being invited to an event later this week.

For the last four years Manx Wildlife Trust has run a small shark tagging (SST) programme where experienced anglers can get involved in marine conservation by tagging caught sharks.

The SST programme has been running since May 2013.

Tope and other small elasmobranches (sharks, rays and skates) are considered highly vulnerable to overexploitation, as they have slow growth rates, relatively low fecundity and a long reproductive cycle.

Therefore they are at risk globally and are protected in many jurisdictions. However little is known about these species in Manx territorial waters.

The project aims to work with anglers to tag small sharks and rays with identification tags or streamers, on a catch and release basis.

The trust hopes that it will provide data on the distribution and numbers of these small shark populations and will be used for the future management of these species and the best ways to protect them.

To date 40 anglers have been trained with more than 100 sharks tagged, including tope, bull huss and spurdog.

None of the individuals captured through the programme has been recaptured but the more individuals tagged the more likely this is to happen.

Howeverr anglers have recaptured individuals from other programmes including programmes run in the UK.

Amie Williams from the Scottish Shark Tagging Programme is coming over to run the training this year.

There will be a theory session on Friday, June 16, at 7pm at the Department of the Environment, Food and Agriculture’s training room at Thie Slieau Whallian, St John’s.

Anglers are being invited to learn how to land and tag the sharks safely.

On Saturday there will be a practical session to demonstrate the skills learned at the theory session.

This will take place out of Port St Mary. The trip will run from 2pm to 6pm.

Saturday will also see the launch of the tagging competition where trained anglers can compete with each other to tag as many sharks as they can.

Anglers will need to register with Lara Howe the marine officer before Friday, June 16, at 5pm.

On Sunday there will be a fishing trip between 10am and 2pm to give anglers another chance to catch and tag lots of sharks.

Only anglers who have undertaken the training can enter the competition, either in previous years or this year

The winner will received two tickets for a fishing trip with Gemini Charter. Existing anglers are welcome to come along again to refresh their skills if they want.

Contact the Marine Officer, Lara Howe, at [email protected] for more information or to book a space.