Update on the Portuguese pelagic sharks research program in the Atlantic Ocean, including samples and data up to 2015

Portuguese longliners targeting swordfish and operating in the Atlantic Ocean regularly capture elasmobranchs as bycatch. Of those, the blue shark (Prionace glauca) and the shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) constitute the two main shark species captured, even though several other species are also occasionally captured. IPMA, the Portuguese Institute for the Ocean and Atmosphere, is responsible for the National Data Collection Program, deploying fishery observers on longline vessels to collect fisheries data and samples. Therefore, IPMA has currently the means and opportunity to collect a wide variety of biological samples that are of ultimate importance to the work of the SCRS, particularly the sharks working group. In this document we present the current Portuguese pelagic shark research program for the Atlantic Ocean, and provide details regarding the collection of shark samples for the near future as per ICCAT Recommendation 13-10.