Bycatch estimates of lemon shark in the shark bottom longline fishery

Commercial shark longline vessels operating in the US South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico are also required to carry fishery observers to monitor catch and bycatch. Fishery observers are trained in fishery and biological data collection, biological sampling, and teleost and elasmobranch species identification. Observers are required to record and measure all species captured, their disposition (e.g. kept, discarded dead, used for bait, etc.) and effort (e.g. number of hooks, gear characteristics, set and haul times). Herein, bycatch estimates are developed for lemon sharks captured in the shark bottom longline fishery.