Credit: Elias Levy
Government agencies and shark research groups from Canada and the northeastern US announce the establishment of the New England White Shark Research Consortium (NEWSRC). This new consortium marks the first-ever collaboration between the US and Canada to study white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) in the northeastern US-Canadian range. The timing for this collaboration is good, given the increase of white shark sightings in this area.
The NEWSRC will increase our understanding of white shark life history. The consortium also plans to study white shark migration, residency, habitat use, reproduction, and predatory behavior.
The groups that form the NEWSRC include the Maine Department of Marine Resources, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy, the Center for Coastal Studies, the New Hampshire Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth – School for Marine Science and Technology, the New England Aquarium, Arizona State University, the Atlantic Shark Institute, the NOAA Fisheries Apex Predators Program, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
The NEWSRC will advance the current knowledge of the white shark. They will also enhance public education and safety in the regions they study in. Their research will also be unparalleled in scope and methodology. The NEWSRC will maintain hundreds of acoustic receivers throughout the northeast to detect white shark movements. The group plans on researching multiple white shark life stages using a variety of tagging techniques. Tagging technologies include acoustic transmitters, data loggers, satellite-linked tags, conventional tagging, and tissue analysis.