Iolo was recording a programme for his Welsh Safari series on the UK Shark Tagging Programme, which is supported by WWF and aims to gather much needed data to help protect sharks in the UK. The scheme was set up by anglers in 1999 and since then has provided valuable information on the distribution, behaviour, migration patterns and reproduction of shark populations.

When a shark is caught and tagged its vital statistics are carefully noted on a card including its length, weight, sex, species, condition along with the location, tidal and weather state. These captured locations are kept confidential and only issued to the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton who co-ordinate the tagging scheme. When the shark is caught again, usually by fishermen, the individual number on the tag will be returned along with its location.



Sally Bailey explains why WWF supports the programme,"The tagging is a simple yet effective way to monitor shark movements. We have learnt that sharks tend to travel long distances and a high proportion of specimens tagged off our coasts are in most cases caught again by Spanish, Portuguese and sometimes even Japanese commercial fishing fleets."