Sanibel Fishing Charters, February 22, 2020: Spanish Mackerel, Catch & Release!

Current Red Tide & Water Quality Update Here (Page Down For Detail On Sampling & Location Table).

Captiva Fishing: Please Click For Rates & To Book A Captiva Fishing Charter Or Call 239-472-8658.

Sanibel Island Fishing Charters, February 22, 2020.

Please Click To Rent Homes Direct From Captiva Homeowners; No VRBO Booking Fees.

Vote Water For Florida’s Future!

Captiva Fishing Guide Report: Saturday, February 22: Spanish Mackerel, Catch & Release, Captain Joe’s Charters – the weather is warming up, red tide is gone and a lot of good fish have moved back into the gulf, bay and passes; water is much, much better – redfish, sheepshead, black drum, snapper, snook, and seatrout are currently present.

Redfish & snook are regulated as catch & release at this time.

Already seeing some positive impact.  Some very nice big redfish and snook around, more big redfish than snook.

The Caloosahatchee freshwater releases are also not an issue right now, but still a huge long-term problem.

Extremely frustrating.  We need wholesale changes in the Florida state government.  It is not a Republican or Democrat issue – it is a Big Sugar control everyone issue.  It is stunning how we continue to let the sugar industry and the agriculture north of Lake Okeechobee to damage the water and all of Florida.

Please click here to Book A Charter or call 239-472-8658.

We’re located in Castaways Marina, Santiva, Sanibel Island, just before the Blind Pass bridge to Captiva Island.

Turner Beach, the beach adjoining Blind Pass, is frequently covered with a bounty of shells from Olives to Fighting Whelks to the more common Conchs.

The fishing is also renowned for sharks in the summer, tailing redfish on the bayside flats and snook under and off the Blind Pass bridge. Because Turner Beach faces Westward, the sunsets are spectacular and a popular viewing point for residents and visitors alike.

Captiva Fishing Charters

Spanish Mackerel, Catch & Release, Sanibel Island Fishing Charters & Captiva Island Fishing Charters, Sanibel Island, September 13, 2019.

Please also visit the Sanibel, Fort Myers, Florida Fishing Report and Cuban Fishing sites.

“The Atlantic Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus maculatus) is a migratory species of mackerels that swims to the Northern Gulf of Mexico in spring, returns to South Florida in the Eastern Gulf, and to Mexico in the Western Gulf in the fall.

The fish exhibits a green back; its sides are silvery marked with about three rows of round to elliptical yellow spots. Lateral line gradually curving down from the upper end of the gill cover toward caudal peduncle. The first (spiny) dorsal fin is black at the front. Posterior membranes are white with a black edge. Its single row of cutting edged teeth in each jaw (around sixty-four teeth in all) are large, uniform, closely spaced and flattened from side to side. As with the King mackerel and the Cero mackerel, these teeth look very similar to those of the Bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix.

Spanish mackerel are a highly valued fish throughout their range from North Carolina to Texas. Recreational anglers catch Spanish mackerel from boats while trolling or drifting and from boats, piers, jetties, and beaches by casting spoons and jigs and live-bait fishing. Fast lure retrieves are key to catching these quick fish. Commercial methods are primarily run-around gill netting, and rarely, by trolling lures similar to those used by recreational anglers.

On November 4, 1987, Woody Outlaw caught a world-record 13-pound Spanish mackerel[4]on a blue and white Sea Witch with a strip of fastback menhaden on a 7/0 hook, held by a Shimano bait-casting reel on a Kuna rod with 30-pound test line.[5]

Spanish mackerel are primarily marketed fresh or frozen as fillets as commercially caught fish are too small to sell in the form of steaks. Their raw flesh is white. They may be prepared by broiling, frying, baking or, rarely, by smoking.

The Spanish mackerel is also a popular sushi fish. By analogy with the Japanese Spanish mackerel, which is a member of the same genus, it is often called sawara on sushi menus.”  Please see more information here.

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“Spanish Mackerel: Scomberomorous maculatus

Florida Regulations: 

Regulations	Gulf State Waters	Atlantic State Waters
Minimum Size Limit	12” fork length
Daily Bag Limit	15 per harvester per day

Gear Requirements:

• Legal Gear: beach or haul seine, cast net, hook and line, spear

State Waters Harvest Seasons

Habitat and Fishing tips:

Spanish mackerel are a pelagic, fast swimming fish that are prevalent throughout Florida’s coastal waters when water temperatures exceed 70 degrees.

To remain in warm water, Spanish mackerel migrate out of the northern parts of the state in the fall of the year and return in April with the warming waters.

Mackerel are frequently found in shallow, clear water over grass beds and along sandy beaches where they feed on schools of baitfish. Spanish mackerel are aggressive feeders that will strike a wide variety of natural and artificial baits, so they can be very easy to catch.

Many anglers identify the location of Spanish mackerel by trolling or watching for birds diving on schools of baitfish, which often indicates that mackerel are forcing the bait to the surface. Angling techniques include trolling or casting with small shiny spoons, dusters or jigs. Light spinning or bait-casting tackle with 10 to 15-pound monofilament line is adequate; however, 30 to 60-pound monofilament leader is required due to the mackerel’s razor-sharp teeth.

State Record:

12 lb, caught near Ft. Pierce

Florida Rule

Gulf Federal Waters Rules

Atlantic Federal Waters Rules

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King Mackerel: Scomberomorus cavalla

Appearance:

• Back is bluish-green, fading to silvery sides and belly (no spots)
• Front of first dorsal fin lacks a dark blotch
• Lateral line drops sharply below the second dorsal fin
• Juveniles may have yellowish spots, similar to Spanish mackerel

Similar Species: Cero, S. regalis; Spanish mackerel, S. maculatus (both have gently sloping lateral lines and a dark blotch on front of first dorsal fin); and wahoo, A. solandri (first dorsal fin long and continuous)

Size: Up to 72 inches

Habitat:

Coastal to offshore waters. Often around piers. They may occasionally be found in deep water.

Behavior:

Spawn offshore in mid-summer. Schooling fish that migrate from south Florida waters in winter northward in spring. Feed mainly on fishes.

Additional Information

State Record: 90 lb, caught near Key West

Fishing Tips and Facts: Kings feed on small fish and squid and take both natural and artificial baits. Live baits include pogies, herring, Spanish sardine, ballyhoo, and mullet. Lures should be flashy sub-surface lures or large fish-like plugs. Use 20-pound line and tackle, or heavier for larger kings, with a wire or mono leader.

Recreational Regulations”

FWC source & more information here.

Please click here to Book A Charter or call 239-472-8658 and here for Live Sanibel Traffic Cams.  Sunday, June 24, Captiva Island Fishing Charters, Spanish Mackerel, Grass Flats & Oyster Bars, click here for College Of Fishing Hats & Apparel.

We’re located at Castaways Marina, Santiva, Sanibel Island, just before the Blind Pass bridge to Captiva Island.

After a fierce storm, Turner Beach, the beach adjoining the Pass, is frequently covered with a bounty of shells from Olives to Fighting Whelks to the more common Conchs. The fishing is also renowned with sharks in the summer, tailing redfish on the bayside flats and snook under and off the Blind Pass bridge. Because Turner Beach faces Westward, the sunsets are spectacular and a popular viewing point for residents and visitors alike.

And you can like us on Facebook.

Fair winds and following seas,

Captain Joey Burnsed ~ please click calendar or call 239-472-8658 to book a Sanibel & Captiva Islands, Boca Grande or Fort Myers fishing guide trip or shelling charter.

Sanibel Fishing Charters, February 21, 2020: Jack Crevalle, Catch & Release!

Current Red Tide & Water Quality Update Here (Page Down For Detail On Sampling & Location Table).

Captiva Fishing: Please Click For Rates & To Book A Captiva Fishing Charter Or Call 239-472-8658.

Current Red Tide & Water Quality Update Here (Page Down For Detail On Sampling & Location Table).

Captiva Fishing: Please Click For Rates & To Book A Captiva Fishing Charter Or Call 239-472-8658.

Live Weather Cams Here.

Sanibel Island Fishing Charters, February 21, 2020: Jack Crevalle, Catch & Release!

Current Red Tide & Water Quality Update Here (Page Down For Detail On Sampling & Location Table).

Captiva Fishing: Please Click For Rates & To Book A Captiva Fishing Charter Or Call 239-472-8658.

Please Click To Rent Homes Direct From Captiva Homeowners; No VRBO Booking Fees.

Captiva Fishing Guide Report: Friday, February 21: Jack Crevalle, Catch & Release, Captain Joe’s Charters – red tide is gone around Sanibel & Captiva and a lot of good fish have moved back into the gulf, bay and passes; water is much, much better – snapper, snook, seatrout, and ladyfish are abundantly present – which is a very good sign – redfish & snook are now catch & release only.

Caloosahatchee freshwater releases also still a huge near-term and long-term problem.  Extremely frustrating.  We need wholesale changes in the Florida state government.  It is not a Republican or Democrat issue – it is a Big Sugar control everyone issue.  It is stunning how we continue to let the sugar industry and the agriculture north of Lake Okeechobee to damage the water and all of Florida.

We’re located in Castaways Marina, Santiva, Sanibel Island, just before the Blind Pass bridge to Captiva Island.

Please click here to Book A Charter or call 239-472-8658 and here for Live Sanibel Traffic Cams.

Jack Crevalle, Inshore, Sanibel Fishing & Captiva Fishing, Sanibel Island, August 8, 2019. Please also visit the Sanibel, Fort Myers, Florida Fishing Report and Cuban Fishing sites.

Captiva Fishing Charters

Redfish continue to be less prevalent; for more information just use the search box and search on any species for recent fishing reports, background on any species, and other recent fishing, water quality reports, and information.

“The crevalle jack (Caranx hippos), also known as the common jack, black-tailed trevally, couvalli jack, black cavalli, jack crevale or yellow cavalli, is a common species of large marine fish classified within the jack family, Carangidae.

The crevalle jack is distributed across the tropical and temperate waters of the Atlantic Ocean, ranging from Nova Scotia, Canada to Uruguay in the west Atlantic and Portugal to Angola in the east Atlantic, including the Mediterranean Sea.

It is distinguishable from similar species by its deep body, fin coloration and a host of more detailed anatomical features, including fin ray and lateral line scale counts. It is one of the largest fish in the genus Caranx, growing to a maximum known length of 124 cm and a weight of 32 kg, although is rare at lengths greater than 60 cm.

The crevalle jack inhabits both inshore and offshore waters to depths of around 350 m, predominantly over reefs, bays, lagoons and occasionally estuaries.

Young fish dispersed north by currents in the eastern Atlantic are known to migrate back to more tropical waters before the onset of winter; however, if the fish fail to migrate, mass mortalities occur as the temperature falls below the species’ tolerance limits.

The crevalle jack is a powerful, predatory fish, with extensive studies showing the species consumes a variety of small fish, with invertebrates such as prawns, shrimps, crabs, mollusks, and cephalopods also of minor importance. Dietary shifts with both age, location and season have been demonstrated, which led some researchers to postulate the species is indiscriminate in its feeding habits.

The crevalle jack reaches maturity at 55 cm in males and 66 cm in females, with spawning taking place year round, although peaks in activity have been documented in several sites. The larval and juvenile growth has been extensively studied, with the oldest known individual 17 years of age.

The crevalle jack is an important species to commercial fisheries throughout its range, with annual catches ranging between 1,000 and 30,000 tonnes over its entire range. It is taken by a variety of netting methods, including purse nets, seines, and gill nets, as well as hook-and-line methods.

The crevalle jack is also a revered gamefish, taken both by lures and bait. The species is considered of good to poor quality table fare, and is sold fresh, frozen, or preserved, or as fishmeal or oil at market.

The crevalle jack is closely related to both the Pacific crevalle jack and the longfin crevalle jack, the latter of which has been extensively confused with the true crevalle jack until recently.

The crevalle jack is a popular and highly regarded gamefish throughout its range, with the recreational catch of the species often exceeding commercial catches. The only amateur catch data available are from the US, which has an annual catch of around 400 to 1,000 tonnes per year.^[2]

In Trinidad, the species is the basis for several fishing tournaments.^[36] Crevalle jack are targeted from boats, as well as from piers and rock walls by land-based anglers.^[41] Fishermen often target regions where depth suddenly changes, such as channels, holes, reefs or ledges, with strong currents and eddies favorable.^[42]

The fish take both live and cut baits, as well as a variety of artificial lures; however, when the fish are in feeding mode, they rarely refuse anything they are offered. Popular baits include both live fish, such as mullet and menhaden, as well as dead or strip baits consisting of fish, squid or prawns.

Crevalle jack readily accept any style of lure, including hard-bodied spoons, jigs, plugs, and poppers, as well as flies and soft rubber lures.^[42] There is some evidence based on long-term observations that the species favors yellow lures over all others.^[42] Tackle is often kept quite light, but heavy monofilament leaders are employed to prevent the fish’s teeth from abrading the line.^[42]

Crevalle jack are generally considered quite poor table fare, with the selection of younger fish and bleeding upon capture giving the best results. The flesh is very red and dark due to the red muscle of the fish, which makes it somewhat coarse and poor tasting.^[9]

When pulled from the water, this fish snorts in what many people describe as “a pig-like” fashion. The crevalle jack has been implicated in several cases of ciguatera poisoning, although appears less likely to be a carrier than the horse-eye jack.^[43]”   Please see more information here.

Please click here to Book A Charter or call 239-472-8658 and here for Live Sanibel Traffic Cams.  Sunday, June 17, Captiva Island Fishing Charters, Jack Crevalle, Passes & Oyster Bars, click here for College Of Fishing Hats & Apparel.

Sanibel Island Fishing Charters, February 20, 2020: Blacknose Shark, Catch & Release!

Current Red Tide & Water Quality Update Here (Page Down For Detail On Sampling & Location Table).

Captiva Fishing: Please Click For Rates & To Book A Captiva Fishing Charter Or Call 239-472-8658.

Sanibel Island Fishing Charters, February 20, 2019.

Please Click To Rent Homes Direct From Captiva Homeowners; No VRBO Booking Fees.

Captiva Fishing Guide Report: Thursday, February 20: Blacknose Sharks, Catch & Release, Captain Joe’s Charters – the weather is great, red tide is gone and a lot of good fish have moved back into the gulf, bay and passes; water is much, much better – Kingfish, Spanish Mackerel, Tarpon, Sharks, Redfish, Snapper, Snook, and Seatrout are currently present.

Redfish & snook are regulated as catch & release at this time.

Already seeing some positive impact.  Some very nice big redfish and snook around, more big redfish than snook.

The Caloosahatchee freshwater releases are also not an issue right now, but still a huge long-term problem.

Extremely frustrating.  We need wholesale changes in the Florida state government.  It is not a Republican or Democrat issue – it is a Big Sugar control everyone issue.  It is stunning how we continue to let the sugar industry and the agriculture north of Lake Okeechobee to damage the water and all of Florida.

Please click here to Book A Charter or call 239-472-8658.

We’re located in Castaways Marina, Santiva, Sanibel Island, just before the Blind Pass bridge to Captiva Island.

Turner Beach, the beach adjoining Blind Pass, is frequently covered with a bounty of shells from Olives to Fighting Whelks to the more common Conchs.

The fishing is also renowned for sharks in the summer, tailing redfish on the bayside flats and snook under and off the Blind Pass bridge. Because Turner Beach faces Westward, the sunsets are spectacular and a popular viewing point for residents and visitors alike.

August 3, Sanibel Island Fishing Charters & Sanibel Island Fishing Charters: Sharks, Catch & Release.  Please also visit the Sanibel, Florida Fishing Report and Cuban Fishing sites. 

A lot fall of snook, both small and large, in the passes right now; for more information just see the recent fishing reports, background on any species, and other recent fishing, water quality reports, and information.

Captiva Island Fishing Charters

September 30: Blacknose Sharks, Catch & Release, Sanibel Island Fishing Charters & Sanibel Island Fishing Charters: Snook, Catch & Release.  Please also visit the Sanibel, Fort Myers, Florida Fishing Report and Cuban Fishing sites.  Better water moving north of Sanibel up through Captiva & North Captiva.

“The blacknose shark (Carcharhinus acronotus) is a species of requiem shark, belonging to the family Carcharhinidae, common in the tropical and subtropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean. This species generally inhabits coastal seagrass, sand, or rubble habitats, with adults preferring deeper water than juveniles.

A small shark typically measuring 1.3 m (4.3 ft) long, the blacknose has a typical streamlined “requiem shark” shape with a long, rounded snout, large eyes, and a small first dorsal fin. Its common name comes from a characteristic black blotch on the tip of its snout, though this may be indistinct in older individuals.

Blacknose sharks feed primarily on small bony fishes and cephalopods, and in turn fall prey to larger sharks.

Like other members of their family, they exhibit a viviparous mode of reproduction in which the developing embryos are sustained by a placental connection. The females give birth to three to six young in late spring or early summer, either annually or biennially, after a gestation period of eight to 11 months.

This species is not known to attack humans, though it has been documented performing a threat display towards divers. It is of moderate commercial and recreational importance.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed this species as Near Threatened. In 2009, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the populations of the blacknose shark off the United States are being overfished and proposed new conservation measures.

The Cuban naturalist Felipe Poey published the first description of the blacknose shark in 1860 as Squalus acronotus, in his Memorias sobre la historia natural de la Isla de Cuba. Later authors moved this species to the genus Carcharhinus. The type specimen was a 98-cm (3.2-ft)-long male caught off Cuba.^[2]

Based on morphological data, Jack Garrick suggested in 1982 that the blacknose shark has a sister relationship to a group containing the whitecheek shark (C. dussumieri) and the blackspot shark (C. sealei), while Leonard Compagnoproposed in 1988 that this shark belongs in a group with five other species, including the silky shark (C. falciformis) and the blacktip reef shark (C. melanopterus).

Molecular analyses have been similarly equivocal regarding the blacknose shark’s phylogenetic relationships: Gavin Naylor’s 1992 allozyme analysis found this species to be the most bbasal member of Carcharhinus, while Mine Dosay-Abkulut’s 2008 ribosomal DNA analysis indicated affinity between it and the blacktip shark (C. limbatus) or the smalltail shark (C. porosus).^[3][4] The whitenose shark (Nasolamia velox), found along the tropical western coast of the Americas, may be descended from blacknose sharks that experienced the teratogenic effects of incipient cyclopia.^[2]

The blacknose shark inhabits the continental and insular shelves off the eastern coast of the Americas, as far north as North Carolina and as far south as southern Brazil, including the Bahamas, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea.

They frequent coastal waters over beds of seagrass, sandy flats, and shell or coral rubble.^[5]This species is spatially segregated by size and sex. Generally, only young sharks are encountered in shallow water, as the adults prefer depths greater than 9 m (30 ft) and are most common at 18–64 m (59–210 ft).^[1][6]

Blacknose sharks in the South Atlantic Bight (off the Atlantic coast of the southern United States) migrate northward in the summer and southward (or possibly offshore) in the winter; a similar migration occurs for sharks in the Gulf of Mexico.^[7]

The blacknose shark has a slender, streamlined body with a long, rounded snout and large eyes. There is a well-developed flap of skin in front of each nostril, defining the inflow and outflow openings. Twelve to 13 and 11 to 12 tooth rows occur on either side of the upper and lower jaws, respectively, with one or two teeth at the symphysis (middle). The teeth are triangular and oblique, with serrated edges; the upper teeth are stouter than the lower teeth. The five pairs of gill slits are short, measuring less a third the length of the first dorsal fin base.^[6][8]

The first dorsal fin is small and somewhat sickle-shaped, with a pointed apex and a short, free, rear tip; its origin lies over the free rear tips of the pectoral fins. The second dorsal fin is relatively large, though still less than half the height of the first. No ridge is seen between the dorsal fins.

The pectoral fins are short and tapered.^[8]The body is covered with overlapping dermal denticles that bear five to seven longitudinal ridges (three in very young individuals) leading to three to five marginal teeth.^[6]

The coloration is yellowish to greenish-gray or brown above and white to yellow below. A distinctive dark blotch at the tip of the snout is most obvious in young sharks. The tips of the second dorsal fin, upper caudal fin lobe, and sometimes the lower caudal fin lobe, are dark.

Blacknose sharks are typically 1.3–1.4 m (4.3–4.6 ft) long and 10 kg (22 lb) in weight.^[2][8] The maximum length and weight of record is 2.0 m (6.6 ft) and 18.9 kg (42 lb), respectively.^[9]

A small, fast-swimming predator, the blacknose shark feeds primarily on small, bony fishes, including pinfish, croakers, porgies, anchovies, spiny boxfish, and porcupinefish, as well as on octopus and other cephalopods.^[6]

When competing for bait, their speed allows them to snatch food from larger sharks such as the Caribbean reef shark (C. perezi).^[10][11]

This species may form large schools that are sometimes associated with anchovies and mullet.^[6] Blacknose sharks demonstrate a high degree of philopatry: both juveniles and adults have been documented returning to the same local area year after year.^[12]

Blacknose sharks are preyed upon by larger sharks,^[6] and captives have been observed to perform an apparent threat display towards encroaching divers or newly introduced members of their species. The display consists of the shark hunching its back, lowering its pectoral fins, gaping its jaws, and swimming with an exaggerated side-to-side motion.^[2][13]

Known parasites of this species include the copepods Nesippus orientalis, Perissopus dentatus, Pandarus sinuatus, Kroyeria sphyrnae, Nemesis atlantica, and Eudactylina spinifera,^[14] as well as tapeworms in the genera Paraorygmatobothrium and Platybothrium.^[15][16]

As in other requiem sharks, the blacknose shark is viviparous: after the developing embryos exhaust their supply of yolk, the empty yolk sac develops into a placental connection through which the mother provides nourishment.

Off the United States, males are thought to reproduce every year, while females reproduce every other year.^[17] However, off northeastern Brazil, the female reproductive cycle is short enough to occur annually.^[1][18]

Vitellogenesis (the formation of yolk within the ovary) occurs in the late summer, and is immediately followed by mating and fertilization in the fall, with the young being born the following spring to summer.^[6] The seasonality of these events means the reproductive cycle is offset by six months between populations in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

The gestation period has been variously estimated at eight months off northeastern Brazil and 9–11 months off the southeastern United States.^[18]

Females typically give birth to litters of one to six pups in shallow nursery areas, such as coastal bays or mangrove swamps;^[1][19] one known nursery area is Bulls Bay off South Carolina.^[6] There is no relationship between female size and the number of young.^[7] The newborns measure 38–50 cm (15–20 in) long.^[2]

Female blacknose sharks grow more slowly, attain a larger ultimate size, and have a longer lifespan than males. In addition, Gulf of Mexico sharks are slower-growing and longer-lived than those from the South Atlantic Bight.^[20]

In the South Atlantic Bight, both sexes mature at a fork length (from snout tip to caudal fin fork) of around 90 cm (3.0 ft), corresponding to ages of 4.3 years for males and 4.5 years for females. In the Gulf of Mexico, both sexes mature at a fork length of around 85 cm (2.79 ft), corresponding to ages of 5.4 years for males and 6.6 years for females.^[7] The maximum lifespan has been calculated as 19 years in South Atlantic Bight and 16.5 years in the Gulf of Mexico.^[1]

The blacknose shark has never been implicated in an attack on humans. However, caution should be exercised if it begins to perform a threat display.^[19]

This species is regarded as a game fish and offers a respectable fight on light tackle (a more delicate fishing line).^[6] It is also of regional commercial importance, being taken intentionally and as bycatch via gillnets and surface longlines across its range, most significantly off southwestern Florida, Venezuela, and Brazil; the meat is sold dried and salted.

Large numbers of blacknose sharks are also caught incidentally by shrimp trawlers, which may pose a greater threat to its population, as many of the sharks taken are immature.^[1][2]

Off the United States, the fishing of the blacknose shark is regulated by the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service 1993 Fisheries Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico sharks.

For the purposes of commercial quotas and bag limits, the blacknose shark is classified within the “small coastal shark” (SCS) complex.^[7] From 1999 to 2005, an average of 27,484 blacknose sharks (62 metric tons) were caught each year off the United States.

Recent stock assessments conducted by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have determined the populations of this species have become overfished in both the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.

In 2009, the NOAA proposed instituting a separate quota for blacknose sharks of 6,065 sharks per year, and a ban on using gill nets to catch sharks in the Atlantic.^[21]

By contrast, blacknose shark stocks off northern Brazil appear to be stable, while no fishery data are available from the Caribbean. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed this species as Near Threatened globally.^[1]  Please see the source and more information here.

Please click here to Book A Charter or call 239-472-8658 and here for Live Sanibel Traffic Cams.  Saturday, June 9, Blacknose Sharks, stealing cut bait for Tarpon, click here for College Of Fishing Hats & Apparel.

We’re located in Castaways Marina, Santiva, Sanibel Island, just before the Blind Pass bridge to Captiva Island.

After a fierce storm, Turner Beach, the beach adjoining the Pass, is frequently covered with a bounty of shells from Olives to Fighting Whelks to the more common Conchs. The fishing is also renowned with sharks in the summer, tailing redfish on the bayside flats and snook under and off the Blind Pass bridge. Because Turner Beach faces Westward, the sunsets are spectacular and a popular viewing point for residents and visitors alike.

And you can like us on Facebook.

Fair winds and following seas,

Captain Joey Burnsed ~ please click calendar at the upper right or call 239-472-8658 to book a Sanibel & Captiva Islands, Boca Grande or Fort Myers fishing guide trip or shelling charter.

Captiva Fishing, Atlantic Sharpnose Shark, 4-28-15, Sanibel Fishing & Captiva Fishing & Fort Myers Fishing Charters & Guide Service.

Sanibel Fishing Charters, February 19, 2020: Triggerfish, Catch & Release!

Current Red Tide & Water Quality Update Here; Getting Clearer (Page Down For Detail On Sampling & Location Table).

Captiva Fishing: Please Click For Rates & To Book A Captiva Fishing Charter Or Call 239-472-8658.

Sanibel Fishing Charters, February 19, 2020: Triggerfish, Catch & Release!

Please Click To Rent Homes Direct From Captiva Homeowners; No VRBO Booking Fees.

Sanibel Island Fishing, February 19, 2020.

Vote Water For Florida’s Future!

Captiva Fishing Guide Report: Wednesday, February 19, 2020: Triggerfish, Catch & Release, Captain Joe’s Charters – the weather is great, little Red Tide presence, and a lot of good fish in the gulf, bay, and passes; Sharks, Redfish, Snapper, Snook, and Seatrout are currently present.

Redfish & snook are regulated as catch & release at this time.

Already seeing some positive impact.  Some very nice big redfish and snook around, more big redfish than snook.

The Caloosahatchee freshwater releases are also not an issue right now, but still a huge long-term problem.

Extremely frustrating.  We need wholesale changes in the Florida state government.  It is not a Republican or Democrat issue – it is a Big Sugar control everyone issue.  It is stunning how we continue to let the sugar industry and the agriculture north of Lake Okeechobee to damage the water and all of Florida.

Please click here to Book A Charter or call 239-472-8658.

We’re located in Castaways Marina, Santiva, Sanibel Island, just before the Blind Pass bridge to Captiva Island.

“Gray Triggerfish: Balistes capriscus

Appearance:

• Olive-gray in color with plate-like scales
• Small mouth with chisel-like teeth used for crushing
• Dorsal and anal fins marbled
• Upper and lower lobes of tail elongated in large adults
• Young have large dark spots on the back (sometimes persist in adults)

Similar Species: Other triggerfish

Size: Up to 17 inches

Habitat:

Hard-bottoms, reefs and ledges

Behavior:

Triggerfish can raise and lock their first dorsal spine; pressing down on the second dorsal spine acts as a trigger, unlocking the first spine.

Additional Information

State Record: 12lb 7oz

Recreational Regulations:   Please see more information here.”

“The grey triggerfish (Balistes capriscus) is a ray-finned fish in the triggerfish family. The species is native to shallow parts of the western Atlantic from Nova Scotia to Argentina and also the eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean Sea and off Angola on the west coast of Africa.

In its appearance and habits, the grey triggerfish is a typical member of the genus Balistes except for its drab, uniformly grey coloration. It is a relatively small fish, usually less than 2.3 kg (5 lb) in weight. It is fished recreationally and despite its tough skin, is an excellent food-fish.

The grey triggerfish is a medium-sized fish that can grow to 60 cm (24 in), but a more common length is 44 cm (17 in). The small beak-like mouth at the tip of the snout has fleshy lips. The eyes are set far back near the top of the head. The body is laterally compressed and deep-bodied with a tough, leathery skin. The front dorsal fin has three spines, the first being very strong and much longer than the other two. The second dorsal fin has 26 to 29 soft rays and is much the same size and shape as the anal fin directly below it which has no spines and 23 to 26 soft rays. The pectoral fins are small and rounded. The outer rays of the caudal fin are elongated in larger individuals. The scales on the head and front half of the body are large while those on the hind half are smaller and smooth.^[2][3]

This fish is predominantly pale grey, greenish-grey or yellowish-brown. The body has three indistinct broad dark bars and there is a pale streak on the chin. The upper part of the orbit of the eye is blue and there are some small blue spots and lines on the dorsal fins and upper parts of the body, and sometimes white dots and irregular lines on the lower parts of the body. Both the second dorsal and the anal fin present a somewhat marbled appearance. The body color fades a little as the animal gets older: juveniles are more colorful.^[2][3]

The grey triggerfish is principally a fish of shallow waters in the western Atlantic Ocean. Its native range extends from Nova Scotia to the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and Bermuda, and southwards to Argentina. It is typically found over hard bottoms on reefs and rocky areas, in lagoons and in bays, at depths down to about 55 m (180 ft). It is also found on the other side of the Atlantic, around the British Isles, in the Mediterranean Sea and off the coast of Angola.^[3] It may have crossed the Atlantic as a result of the movement of water in the Gulf Stream. It does not breed in the waters around Britain but does do so in the Mediterranean.^[4]

Locomotion in the grey triggerfish is by means of undulations of the dorsal fins. If threatened, the fish can work its way into a protective crevice and wedge itself in place by erecting its front dorsal spine. It is difficult to dislodge from this position. The second spine is connected to the first and when it is depressed, it triggers the unlocking of the first spine.^[3]

The grey triggerfish is a demersal species and feeds on bottom-dwelling invertebrates such as shrimps, crabs, mollusks, sea urchins, sand dollars, starfish and sea cucumbers. It has strong teeth specialized for making holes in hard-shelled prey. An interesting feeding behavior has been observed, in which the fish positions itself vertically above a sandy seabed and puffs a stream of water out of its mouth. This disturbs the substrate and may reveal something edible. Further puffs expose more, and the prey item is gripped with the fish’s sharp teeth and removed from the seabed. If it is a sand dollar, the fish drops it and picks it up again several times until the prey lands upside down. The fish then adopts its vertical stance once more and attacks the middle with closed jaws, crushing the soft central area. It then scoops out and devours the flesh.^[3]

Males develop a charcoal grey coloration and are highly territorial during the breeding season, which commences in summer when the water temperature reaches about 21 °C (70 °F). The males prepare up to a dozen nests in hollows blown out of sandy seabed^[5] and then patrol the area, driving unwanted fish away. The females roam around inspecting the nest sites. When a female is ready to spawn, both male and female enter a nest and tightly circle round each other while she lays large numbers of minute eggs and he fertilizes them. The female stays in the nest, guarding the eggs and blowing and fanning them. The male defends his territory, which may contain other nests with females guarding their eggs. In this way, the male exhibits harem behavior.^[6] Wrasses and red snappers sometimes feed on the eggs which, if they survive that long, hatch after about fifty hours. The fish larvae migrate up towards the surface of the water where they often become part of the community depending on floating sargassum weed. There they feed on algae, barnacles, hydroids and polychaete worms. In the autumn, when they reach about 15 cm (6 in), the juvenile fish leave the sargassum and sink down to the sea bed.^[3]

The grey triggerfish is fished recreationally around Florida and elsewhere. It is known as a notorious bait stealer and is found over hard bottom in 20 to 40 m (66 to 131 ft) depths off the Atlantic Coast of Florida, often in association with black sea bass and red snapper. Because of its bony mouth it needs a small sharp hook which is usually baited with squid or cut bait.^[7] The flesh is of high quality but the consumption of this fish has been linked to isolated cases of ciguatera poisoning.^[3]  Please see more information here.

Please click here to Book A Charter or call 239-472-8658 and here for Live Sanibel Traffic Cams.  Triggerfish, Monday, March 26, Captiva Island Fishing Charters, Sheepshead, click here for College Of Fishing Hats & Apparel.

We’re located in Castaways Marina, Santiva, Sanibel Island, just before the Blind Pass bridge to Captiva Island.

After a fierce storm, Turner Beach, the beach adjoining the Pass, is frequently covered with a bounty of shells from Olives to Fighting Whelks to the more common Conchs. The fishing is also renowned for sharks in the summer, tailing redfish on the bayside flats and snook under and off the Blind Pass bridge. Because Turner Beach faces Westward, the sunsets are spectacular and a popular viewing point for residents and visitors alike.

And you can like us on Facebook.

Fair winds and following seas,

Captain Joey Burnsed ~ please click calendar at the upper left or call 239-472-8658 to book a Sanibel & Captiva Islands, Boca Grande or Fort Myers fishing guide trip or shelling charter.

Sanibel Island Fishing Charters, February 18, 2020: Blacknose Shark, Catch & Release!

Current Red Tide & Water Quality Update Here (Page Down For Detail On Sampling & Location Table).

Captiva Fishing: Please Click For Rates & To Book A Captiva Fishing Charter Or Call 239-472-8658.

Sanibel Island Fishing Charters, February 18, 2019.

Please Click To Rent Homes Direct From Captiva Homeowners; No VRBO Booking Fees.

Captiva Fishing Guide Report: Tuesday, February 18: Blacknose Sharks, Catch & Release, Captain Joe’s Charters – the weather is great, red tide is gone and a lot of good fish have moved back into the gulf, bay and passes; water is much, much better – Kingfish, Spanish Mackerel, Tarpon, Sharks, Redfish, Snapper, Snook, and Seatrout are currently present.

Redfish & snook are regulated as catch & release at this time.

Already seeing some positive impact.  Some very nice big redfish and snook around, more big redfish than snook.

The Caloosahatchee freshwater releases are also not an issue right now, but still a huge long-term problem.

Extremely frustrating.  We need wholesale changes in the Florida state government.  It is not a Republican or Democrat issue – it is a Big Sugar control everyone issue.  It is stunning how we continue to let the sugar industry and the agriculture north of Lake Okeechobee to damage the water and all of Florida.

Please click here to Book A Charter or call 239-472-8658.

We’re located in Castaways Marina, Santiva, Sanibel Island, just before the Blind Pass bridge to Captiva Island.

Turner Beach, the beach adjoining Blind Pass, is frequently covered with a bounty of shells from Olives to Fighting Whelks to the more common Conchs.

The fishing is also renowned for sharks in the summer, tailing redfish on the bayside flats and snook under and off the Blind Pass bridge. Because Turner Beach faces Westward, the sunsets are spectacular and a popular viewing point for residents and visitors alike.

August 3, Sanibel Island Fishing Charters & Sanibel Island Fishing Charters: Sharks, Catch & Release.  Please also visit the Sanibel, Florida Fishing Report and Cuban Fishing sites. 

A lot fall of snook, both small and large, in the passes right now; for more information just see the recent fishing reports, background on any species, and other recent fishing, water quality reports, and information.

Captiva Island Fishing Charters

September 30: Blacknose Sharks, Catch & Release, Sanibel Island Fishing Charters & Sanibel Island Fishing Charters: Snook, Catch & Release.  Please also visit the Sanibel, Fort Myers, Florida Fishing Report and Cuban Fishing sites.  Better water moving north of Sanibel up through Captiva & North Captiva.

“The blacknose shark (Carcharhinus acronotus) is a species of requiem shark, belonging to the family Carcharhinidae, common in the tropical and subtropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean. This species generally inhabits coastal seagrass, sand, or rubble habitats, with adults preferring deeper water than juveniles.

A small shark typically measuring 1.3 m (4.3 ft) long, the blacknose has a typical streamlined “requiem shark” shape with a long, rounded snout, large eyes, and a small first dorsal fin. Its common name comes from a characteristic black blotch on the tip of its snout, though this may be indistinct in older individuals.

Blacknose sharks feed primarily on small bony fishes and cephalopods, and in turn fall prey to larger sharks.

Like other members of their family, they exhibit a viviparous mode of reproduction in which the developing embryos are sustained by a placental connection. The females give birth to three to six young in late spring or early summer, either annually or biennially, after a gestation period of eight to 11 months.

This species is not known to attack humans, though it has been documented performing a threat display towards divers. It is of moderate commercial and recreational importance.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed this species as Near Threatened. In 2009, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the populations of the blacknose shark off the United States are being overfished and proposed new conservation measures.

The Cuban naturalist Felipe Poey published the first description of the blacknose shark in 1860 as Squalus acronotus, in his Memorias sobre la historia natural de la Isla de Cuba. Later authors moved this species to the genus Carcharhinus. The type specimen was a 98-cm (3.2-ft)-long male caught off Cuba.^[2]

Based on morphological data, Jack Garrick suggested in 1982 that the blacknose shark has a sister relationship to a group containing the whitecheek shark (C. dussumieri) and the blackspot shark (C. sealei), while Leonard Compagnoproposed in 1988 that this shark belongs in a group with five other species, including the silky shark (C. falciformis) and the blacktip reef shark (C. melanopterus).

Molecular analyses have been similarly equivocal regarding the blacknose shark’s phylogenetic relationships: Gavin Naylor’s 1992 allozyme analysis found this species to be the most bbasal member of Carcharhinus, while Mine Dosay-Abkulut’s 2008 ribosomal DNA analysis indicated affinity between it and the blacktip shark (C. limbatus) or the smalltail shark (C. porosus).^[3][4] The whitenose shark (Nasolamia velox), found along the tropical western coast of the Americas, may be descended from blacknose sharks that experienced the teratogenic effects of incipient cyclopia.^[2]

The blacknose shark inhabits the continental and insular shelves off the eastern coast of the Americas, as far north as North Carolina and as far south as southern Brazil, including the Bahamas, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea.

They frequent coastal waters over beds of seagrass, sandy flats, and shell or coral rubble.^[5]This species is spatially segregated by size and sex. Generally, only young sharks are encountered in shallow water, as the adults prefer depths greater than 9 m (30 ft) and are most common at 18–64 m (59–210 ft).^[1][6]

Blacknose sharks in the South Atlantic Bight (off the Atlantic coast of the southern United States) migrate northward in the summer and southward (or possibly offshore) in the winter; a similar migration occurs for sharks in the Gulf of Mexico.^[7]

The blacknose shark has a slender, streamlined body with a long, rounded snout and large eyes. There is a well-developed flap of skin in front of each nostril, defining the inflow and outflow openings. Twelve to 13 and 11 to 12 tooth rows occur on either side of the upper and lower jaws, respectively, with one or two teeth at the symphysis (middle). The teeth are triangular and oblique, with serrated edges; the upper teeth are stouter than the lower teeth. The five pairs of gill slits are short, measuring less a third the length of the first dorsal fin base.^[6][8]

The first dorsal fin is small and somewhat sickle-shaped, with a pointed apex and a short, free, rear tip; its origin lies over the free rear tips of the pectoral fins. The second dorsal fin is relatively large, though still less than half the height of the first. No ridge is seen between the dorsal fins.

The pectoral fins are short and tapered.^[8]The body is covered with overlapping dermal denticles that bear five to seven longitudinal ridges (three in very young individuals) leading to three to five marginal teeth.^[6]

The coloration is yellowish to greenish-gray or brown above and white to yellow below. A distinctive dark blotch at the tip of the snout is most obvious in young sharks. The tips of the second dorsal fin, upper caudal fin lobe, and sometimes the lower caudal fin lobe, are dark.

Blacknose sharks are typically 1.3–1.4 m (4.3–4.6 ft) long and 10 kg (22 lb) in weight.^[2][8] The maximum length and weight of record is 2.0 m (6.6 ft) and 18.9 kg (42 lb), respectively.^[9]

A small, fast-swimming predator, the blacknose shark feeds primarily on small, bony fishes, including pinfish, croakers, porgies, anchovies, spiny boxfish, and porcupinefish, as well as on octopus and other cephalopods.^[6]

When competing for bait, their speed allows them to snatch food from larger sharks such as the Caribbean reef shark (C. perezi).^[10][11]

This species may form large schools that are sometimes associated with anchovies and mullet.^[6] Blacknose sharks demonstrate a high degree of philopatry: both juveniles and adults have been documented returning to the same local area year after year.^[12]

Blacknose sharks are preyed upon by larger sharks,^[6] and captives have been observed to perform an apparent threat display towards encroaching divers or newly introduced members of their species. The display consists of the shark hunching its back, lowering its pectoral fins, gaping its jaws, and swimming with an exaggerated side-to-side motion.^[2][13]

Known parasites of this species include the copepods Nesippus orientalis, Perissopus dentatus, Pandarus sinuatus, Kroyeria sphyrnae, Nemesis atlantica, and Eudactylina spinifera,^[14] as well as tapeworms in the genera Paraorygmatobothrium and Platybothrium.^[15][16]

As in other requiem sharks, the blacknose shark is viviparous: after the developing embryos exhaust their supply of yolk, the empty yolk sac develops into a placental connection through which the mother provides nourishment.

Off the United States, males are thought to reproduce every year, while females reproduce every other year.^[17] However, off northeastern Brazil, the female reproductive cycle is short enough to occur annually.^[1][18]

Vitellogenesis (the formation of yolk within the ovary) occurs in the late summer, and is immediately followed by mating and fertilization in the fall, with the young being born the following spring to summer.^[6] The seasonality of these events means the reproductive cycle is offset by six months between populations in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

The gestation period has been variously estimated at eight months off northeastern Brazil and 9–11 months off the southeastern United States.^[18]

Females typically give birth to litters of one to six pups in shallow nursery areas, such as coastal bays or mangrove swamps;^[1][19] one known nursery area is Bulls Bay off South Carolina.^[6] There is no relationship between female size and the number of young.^[7] The newborns measure 38–50 cm (15–20 in) long.^[2]

Female blacknose sharks grow more slowly, attain a larger ultimate size, and have a longer lifespan than males. In addition, Gulf of Mexico sharks are slower-growing and longer-lived than those from the South Atlantic Bight.^[20]

In the South Atlantic Bight, both sexes mature at a fork length (from snout tip to caudal fin fork) of around 90 cm (3.0 ft), corresponding to ages of 4.3 years for males and 4.5 years for females. In the Gulf of Mexico, both sexes mature at a fork length of around 85 cm (2.79 ft), corresponding to ages of 5.4 years for males and 6.6 years for females.^[7] The maximum lifespan has been calculated as 19 years in South Atlantic Bight and 16.5 years in the Gulf of Mexico.^[1]

The blacknose shark has never been implicated in an attack on humans. However, caution should be exercised if it begins to perform a threat display.^[19]

This species is regarded as a game fish and offers a respectable fight on light tackle (a more delicate fishing line).^[6] It is also of regional commercial importance, being taken intentionally and as bycatch via gillnets and surface longlines across its range, most significantly off southwestern Florida, Venezuela, and Brazil; the meat is sold dried and salted.

Large numbers of blacknose sharks are also caught incidentally by shrimp trawlers, which may pose a greater threat to its population, as many of the sharks taken are immature.^[1][2]

Off the United States, the fishing of the blacknose shark is regulated by the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service 1993 Fisheries Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico sharks.

For the purposes of commercial quotas and bag limits, the blacknose shark is classified within the “small coastal shark” (SCS) complex.^[7] From 1999 to 2005, an average of 27,484 blacknose sharks (62 metric tons) were caught each year off the United States.

Recent stock assessments conducted by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have determined the populations of this species have become overfished in both the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.

In 2009, the NOAA proposed instituting a separate quota for blacknose sharks of 6,065 sharks per year, and a ban on using gill nets to catch sharks in the Atlantic.^[21]

By contrast, blacknose shark stocks off northern Brazil appear to be stable, while no fishery data are available from the Caribbean. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed this species as Near Threatened globally.^[1]  Please see the source and more information here.

Please click here to Book A Charter or call 239-472-8658 and here for Live Sanibel Traffic Cams.  Saturday, June 9, Blacknose Sharks, stealing cut bait for Tarpon, click here for College Of Fishing Hats & Apparel.

We’re located in Castaways Marina, Santiva, Sanibel Island, just before the Blind Pass bridge to Captiva Island.

After a fierce storm, Turner Beach, the beach adjoining the Pass, is frequently covered with a bounty of shells from Olives to Fighting Whelks to the more common Conchs. The fishing is also renowned with sharks in the summer, tailing redfish on the bayside flats and snook under and off the Blind Pass bridge. Because Turner Beach faces Westward, the sunsets are spectacular and a popular viewing point for residents and visitors alike.

And you can like us on Facebook.

Fair winds and following seas,

Captain Joey Burnsed ~ please click calendar at the upper right or call 239-472-8658 to book a Sanibel & Captiva Islands, Boca Grande or Fort Myers fishing guide trip or shelling charter.

Captiva Fishing, Atlantic Sharpnose Shark, 4-28-15, Sanibel Fishing & Captiva Fishing & Fort Myers Fishing Charters & Guide Service.

Sanibel Island Fishing Charters, February 17, 2020: Blacknose Shark, Catch & Release!

Current Red Tide & Water Quality Update Here (Page Down For Detail On Sampling & Location Table).

Captiva Fishing: Please Click For Rates & To Book A Captiva Fishing Charter Or Call 239-472-8658.

Sanibel Island Fishing Charters, February 17, 2019.

Please Click To Rent Homes Direct From Captiva Homeowners; No VRBO Booking Fees.

Captiva Fishing Guide Report: Monday, February 17: Blacknose Sharks, Catch & Release, Captain Joe’s Charters – the weather is great, red tide is gone and a lot of good fish have moved back into the gulf, bay and passes; water is much, much better – Kingfish, Spanish Mackerel, Tarpon, Sharks, Redfish, Snapper, Snook, and Seatrout are currently present.

Redfish & snook are regulated as catch & release at this time.

Already seeing some positive impact.  Some very nice big redfish and snook around, more big redfish than snook.

The Caloosahatchee freshwater releases are also not an issue right now, but still a huge long-term problem.

Extremely frustrating.  We need wholesale changes in the Florida state government.  It is not a Republican or Democrat issue – it is a Big Sugar control everyone issue.  It is stunning how we continue to let the sugar industry and the agriculture north of Lake Okeechobee to damage the water and all of Florida.

Please click here to Book A Charter or call 239-472-8658.

We’re located in Castaways Marina, Santiva, Sanibel Island, just before the Blind Pass bridge to Captiva Island.

Turner Beach, the beach adjoining Blind Pass, is frequently covered with a bounty of shells from Olives to Fighting Whelks to the more common Conchs.

The fishing is also renowned for sharks in the summer, tailing redfish on the bayside flats and snook under and off the Blind Pass bridge. Because Turner Beach faces Westward, the sunsets are spectacular and a popular viewing point for residents and visitors alike.

August 3, Sanibel Island Fishing Charters & Sanibel Island Fishing Charters: Sharks, Catch & Release.  Please also visit the Sanibel, Florida Fishing Report and Cuban Fishing sites. 

A lot fall of snook, both small and large, in the passes right now; for more information just see the recent fishing reports, background on any species, and other recent fishing, water quality reports, and information.

Captiva Island Fishing Charters

September 30: Blacknose Sharks, Catch & Release, Sanibel Island Fishing Charters & Sanibel Island Fishing Charters: Snook, Catch & Release.  Please also visit the Sanibel, Fort Myers, Florida Fishing Report and Cuban Fishing sites.  Better water moving north of Sanibel up through Captiva & North Captiva.

“The blacknose shark (Carcharhinus acronotus) is a species of requiem shark, belonging to the family Carcharhinidae, common in the tropical and subtropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean. This species generally inhabits coastal seagrass, sand, or rubble habitats, with adults preferring deeper water than juveniles.

A small shark typically measuring 1.3 m (4.3 ft) long, the blacknose has a typical streamlined “requiem shark” shape with a long, rounded snout, large eyes, and a small first dorsal fin. Its common name comes from a characteristic black blotch on the tip of its snout, though this may be indistinct in older individuals.

Blacknose sharks feed primarily on small bony fishes and cephalopods, and in turn fall prey to larger sharks.

Like other members of their family, they exhibit a viviparous mode of reproduction in which the developing embryos are sustained by a placental connection. The females give birth to three to six young in late spring or early summer, either annually or biennially, after a gestation period of eight to 11 months.

This species is not known to attack humans, though it has been documented performing a threat display towards divers. It is of moderate commercial and recreational importance.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed this species as Near Threatened. In 2009, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced the populations of the blacknose shark off the United States are being overfished and proposed new conservation measures.

The Cuban naturalist Felipe Poey published the first description of the blacknose shark in 1860 as Squalus acronotus, in his Memorias sobre la historia natural de la Isla de Cuba. Later authors moved this species to the genus Carcharhinus. The type specimen was a 98-cm (3.2-ft)-long male caught off Cuba.^[2]

Based on morphological data, Jack Garrick suggested in 1982 that the blacknose shark has a sister relationship to a group containing the whitecheek shark (C. dussumieri) and the blackspot shark (C. sealei), while Leonard Compagnoproposed in 1988 that this shark belongs in a group with five other species, including the silky shark (C. falciformis) and the blacktip reef shark (C. melanopterus).

Molecular analyses have been similarly equivocal regarding the blacknose shark’s phylogenetic relationships: Gavin Naylor’s 1992 allozyme analysis found this species to be the most bbasal member of Carcharhinus, while Mine Dosay-Abkulut’s 2008 ribosomal DNA analysis indicated affinity between it and the blacktip shark (C. limbatus) or the smalltail shark (C. porosus).^[3][4] The whitenose shark (Nasolamia velox), found along the tropical western coast of the Americas, may be descended from blacknose sharks that experienced the teratogenic effects of incipient cyclopia.^[2]

The blacknose shark inhabits the continental and insular shelves off the eastern coast of the Americas, as far north as North Carolina and as far south as southern Brazil, including the Bahamas, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea.

They frequent coastal waters over beds of seagrass, sandy flats, and shell or coral rubble.^[5]This species is spatially segregated by size and sex. Generally, only young sharks are encountered in shallow water, as the adults prefer depths greater than 9 m (30 ft) and are most common at 18–64 m (59–210 ft).^[1][6]

Blacknose sharks in the South Atlantic Bight (off the Atlantic coast of the southern United States) migrate northward in the summer and southward (or possibly offshore) in the winter; a similar migration occurs for sharks in the Gulf of Mexico.^[7]

The blacknose shark has a slender, streamlined body with a long, rounded snout and large eyes. There is a well-developed flap of skin in front of each nostril, defining the inflow and outflow openings. Twelve to 13 and 11 to 12 tooth rows occur on either side of the upper and lower jaws, respectively, with one or two teeth at the symphysis (middle). The teeth are triangular and oblique, with serrated edges; the upper teeth are stouter than the lower teeth. The five pairs of gill slits are short, measuring less a third the length of the first dorsal fin base.^[6][8]

The first dorsal fin is small and somewhat sickle-shaped, with a pointed apex and a short, free, rear tip; its origin lies over the free rear tips of the pectoral fins. The second dorsal fin is relatively large, though still less than half the height of the first. No ridge is seen between the dorsal fins.

The pectoral fins are short and tapered.^[8]The body is covered with overlapping dermal denticles that bear five to seven longitudinal ridges (three in very young individuals) leading to three to five marginal teeth.^[6]

The coloration is yellowish to greenish-gray or brown above and white to yellow below. A distinctive dark blotch at the tip of the snout is most obvious in young sharks. The tips of the second dorsal fin, upper caudal fin lobe, and sometimes the lower caudal fin lobe, are dark.

Blacknose sharks are typically 1.3–1.4 m (4.3–4.6 ft) long and 10 kg (22 lb) in weight.^[2][8] The maximum length and weight of record is 2.0 m (6.6 ft) and 18.9 kg (42 lb), respectively.^[9]

A small, fast-swimming predator, the blacknose shark feeds primarily on small, bony fishes, including pinfish, croakers, porgies, anchovies, spiny boxfish, and porcupinefish, as well as on octopus and other cephalopods.^[6]

When competing for bait, their speed allows them to snatch food from larger sharks such as the Caribbean reef shark (C. perezi).^[10][11]

This species may form large schools that are sometimes associated with anchovies and mullet.^[6] Blacknose sharks demonstrate a high degree of philopatry: both juveniles and adults have been documented returning to the same local area year after year.^[12]

Blacknose sharks are preyed upon by larger sharks,^[6] and captives have been observed to perform an apparent threat display towards encroaching divers or newly introduced members of their species. The display consists of the shark hunching its back, lowering its pectoral fins, gaping its jaws, and swimming with an exaggerated side-to-side motion.^[2][13]

Known parasites of this species include the copepods Nesippus orientalis, Perissopus dentatus, Pandarus sinuatus, Kroyeria sphyrnae, Nemesis atlantica, and Eudactylina spinifera,^[14] as well as tapeworms in the genera Paraorygmatobothrium and Platybothrium.^[15][16]

As in other requiem sharks, the blacknose shark is viviparous: after the developing embryos exhaust their supply of yolk, the empty yolk sac develops into a placental connection through which the mother provides nourishment.

Off the United States, males are thought to reproduce every year, while females reproduce every other year.^[17] However, off northeastern Brazil, the female reproductive cycle is short enough to occur annually.^[1][18]

Vitellogenesis (the formation of yolk within the ovary) occurs in the late summer, and is immediately followed by mating and fertilization in the fall, with the young being born the following spring to summer.^[6] The seasonality of these events means the reproductive cycle is offset by six months between populations in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

The gestation period has been variously estimated at eight months off northeastern Brazil and 9–11 months off the southeastern United States.^[18]

Females typically give birth to litters of one to six pups in shallow nursery areas, such as coastal bays or mangrove swamps;^[1][19] one known nursery area is Bulls Bay off South Carolina.^[6] There is no relationship between female size and the number of young.^[7] The newborns measure 38–50 cm (15–20 in) long.^[2]

Female blacknose sharks grow more slowly, attain a larger ultimate size, and have a longer lifespan than males. In addition, Gulf of Mexico sharks are slower-growing and longer-lived than those from the South Atlantic Bight.^[20]

In the South Atlantic Bight, both sexes mature at a fork length (from snout tip to caudal fin fork) of around 90 cm (3.0 ft), corresponding to ages of 4.3 years for males and 4.5 years for females. In the Gulf of Mexico, both sexes mature at a fork length of around 85 cm (2.79 ft), corresponding to ages of 5.4 years for males and 6.6 years for females.^[7] The maximum lifespan has been calculated as 19 years in South Atlantic Bight and 16.5 years in the Gulf of Mexico.^[1]

The blacknose shark has never been implicated in an attack on humans. However, caution should be exercised if it begins to perform a threat display.^[19]

This species is regarded as a game fish and offers a respectable fight on light tackle (a more delicate fishing line).^[6] It is also of regional commercial importance, being taken intentionally and as bycatch via gillnets and surface longlines across its range, most significantly off southwestern Florida, Venezuela, and Brazil; the meat is sold dried and salted.

Large numbers of blacknose sharks are also caught incidentally by shrimp trawlers, which may pose a greater threat to its population, as many of the sharks taken are immature.^[1][2]

Off the United States, the fishing of the blacknose shark is regulated by the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service 1993 Fisheries Management Plan (FMP) for Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico sharks.

For the purposes of commercial quotas and bag limits, the blacknose shark is classified within the “small coastal shark” (SCS) complex.^[7] From 1999 to 2005, an average of 27,484 blacknose sharks (62 metric tons) were caught each year off the United States.

Recent stock assessments conducted by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have determined the populations of this species have become overfished in both the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico.

In 2009, the NOAA proposed instituting a separate quota for blacknose sharks of 6,065 sharks per year, and a ban on using gill nets to catch sharks in the Atlantic.^[21]

By contrast, blacknose shark stocks off northern Brazil appear to be stable, while no fishery data are available from the Caribbean. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed this species as Near Threatened globally.^[1]  Please see the source and more information here.

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