Plasma catecholamine levels as indicators of the post-release survivorship of juvenile pelagic sharks caught on experimental drift longlines in the Southern California Bight

Between 1983 and 2004, nearly 12 000 shortfin mako (Isurus oxyrinchus), common thresher (Alopias vulpinus) and blue (Prionace glauca) sharks were tagged in the Southern California Bight; however, only 1.97% of these have been returned. One possible reason for this low return rate could be post-release mortality caused by capture stress from the experimental longline. Plasma catecholamine levels were analysed to evaluate stress levels in longline-captured, rod-and-reel-captured and unstressed docile sharks. The mean catecholamine values determined for the three tag–release species ranged from 6539 to 22 079 pg mL−1. The level of adrenaline found in moribund I. oxyrinchus (94 807 pg mL−1) was much higher than in either P. glauca (46 845 pg mL−1) or A. vulpinus (36 890 pg mL−1). In contrast, blood obtained from sharks that were landed within minutes had lower catecholamine values (P. glauca, 889 and 1347 pg mL−1; I. oxyrinchus, 2960 and 3946 pg mL−1, adrenaline and noradrenaline respectively). Among the nine I. oxyrinchus specimens that were recaptured long after their longline capture and release, the highest adrenaline level measured just before release was 33 352 pg mL−1. Because these mako sharks survived sufficiently long to be recaptured, their time-of-release catecholamine levels provide a conservative estimate of ∼80% viability on the longline-captured and released population.