Blacktip Shark - Human Interactions

Human Interactions

There are reports of blacktip sharks showing curiosity towards divers, but remaining at a safe distance. Under most circumstances, this timid shark is not regarded as highly dangerous to humans. However, they may become aggressive in the presence of food, and their size and speed invite respect. As of 2008, the International Shark Attack File lists 28 unprovoked attacks (one fatal) and 13 provoked attacks by this species. Blacktip sharks are responsible annually for 16% of the shark attacks around Florida. Most attacks by this species result in only minor wounds.

As one of the most common large sharks in coastal waters, the blacktip shark is caught in large numbers by commercial fisheries throughout the world, using longlines, fixed bottom nets, bottom trawls, and hook-and-line. The meat is of high quality and marketed fresh, frozen, or dried and salted. In addition, the fins are used for shark fin soup, the skin for leather, the liver oil for vitamins, and the carcasses for fishmeal. Blacktip sharks are one of the most important species to the northwestern Atlantic shark fishery, second only to the sandbar shark (C. plumbeus). The flesh is considered superior to that of the sandbar shark, resulting in the sandbar and other requiem shark species being sold under the name "blacktip shark" in the United States. The blacktip shark is also very significant to Indian and Mexican fisheries, and is caught in varying numbers by fisheries in the Mediterranean, South China Sea, and off northern Australia.

The blacktip shark is popular with recreational anglers in Florida, the Caribbean, and South Africa. It is listed as a game fish by the International Game Fish Association (IGFA). Once hooked, this species is a strong, steady fighter that sometimes jumps out of the water. Since 1995, the number of blacktip sharks taken by recreational anglers in the United States has approached or surpassed the number taken by commercial fishing. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed the blacktip shark as Near Threatened, as its low reproductive rate renders it vulnerable to overfishing. The United States and Australia are the only two countries that manage fisheries catching blacktip sharks. In both cases, regulation occurs under umbrella management schemes for multiple shark species, such as that for the Large Coastal Sharks (LCS) category of the US National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Atlantic shark Fisheries Management Plan (FMP). No conservation plans specifically for this species have been implemented.