CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Sharkathon was one of the first tournaments to use the catch and release method. 20 years later, this fishing competition continues to bring in anglers not just interested in the prize money but also in the conservation effort.
Angler Jacob Augs first participated in Sharkathon 17 years ago. He has witnessed how this tournament has made an impact not just in the Coastal Bend but across the country.
"It's great to be part of Sharkathon for so long and watch this kind of evolution in fishing tournaments happen right in front of our eyes. It's really great, it's something that's really special to the Coastal Bend," Augs said.
Sharkathon partners with the Harte Research Center at Texas A&M- Corpus Christi for important shark research. Harte research associate Dr. Kesley Banks said the anglers shark tagging makes an impact in their research.
"As scientist we have limited time and resources and so this is a huge data collection, practically for Jensen thesis that's happening now," Banks said. "But we wouldn't be able to do this with just our manpower and our lab so 700 anglers that are out there collecting scientific data is a phenomenal aspect of this tournament."
Harte graduate research assistant Jensen Smith is working on a thesis about shark population and said Sharkathon helps when it comes to shark conservation efforts.
"So, it's very important because sharks are highly vulnerable species and their population is declining. And it's very important for them to practice this because it helps us understand how healthy our shark population is in the Gulf of Mexico," Smith said.
Augs said this tournament is different because anglers get the opportunity to help the environment through the catch and release method.
"The Harte Research Center has really gotten an incredible amount of data from so many citizen scientists that have joined in, not just the Texas Shark Rodeo, but also participating in shark tagging and releasing," Augs said. "And it's really become quite an awesome thing - seeing where it was in the past to seeing it go into this new conservation effort that we have in place in now."
Banks said since Sharkathon began, they've seen more people using the catch and release method instead of harvesting sharks which is making an impact in conservation efforts for sharks.
To see the Sharkathon winners, click here.