Other Sharks (release)

Not a target here: New York prohibits keeping sandbar (brown), dusky, sand tiger, white, shortfin mako and basking sharks, says do not fish for them, and says to treat any unknown shark as prohibited. Great South Bay is a summer nursery for juvenile sand tigers. Shore anglers must cast baits by rod and reel, use non-stainless, non-offset circle hooks for sharks, and may chum from shore only with mollusks or crustaceans (NYSDEC). Smooth and spiny dogfish have their own pages.

Season in Long Island

Peak months: Jul, Aug.

WCS/NY Aquarium: juvenile sand tigers migrate north in spring and spend the summer in Great South Bay, entering and leaving through Fire Island Inlet, and return south in fall. OTW: shark fishing 'extremely productive' and spinner sharks at Captree in August 2020; spinner, dusky and a small tiger shark tagged out of Captree in August 2022; sharks at Montauk and in Northport harbors in summer 2026. (Our inference)

Season by region

Where to find them

Summer in the South Shore bays and inlets (Great South Bay, Captree, Jones Inlet), Montauk and North Shore harbors.

Anywhere.

Handling

• Teeth
• Abrasive skin
• Sudden thrashing

Keep it in the water. Do not drag it up the beach. If the hook is deep, or you would have to put a hand near the mouth, cut the leader as close to the hook as you can and let it go. A lure is never worth a bite. Sand tiger and sandbar sharks are prohibited species and must be released without removing them from the water.

Keep or release

Release. A shark you are not keeping must stay in the water with its gills submerged; cut the leader close to the hook if it will not come out.

Typical: unknown. Large: unknown.

New York (marine waters) limits

• Minimum: Allowed large sharks (tiger, blacktip, bull, lemon, nurse, spinner, blue, porbeagle, common thresher): 54 in fork length. Great, scalloped and smooth hammerhead: 78 in fork length. Atlantic sharpnose, bonnethead, finetooth: no size limit
• Maximum: none
• Bag: One shark per vessel per trip, plus one additional Atlantic sharpnose and one additional bonnethead per angler per trip
• Boat: One shark per vessel per trip
• Season: No closed season listed
• Prohibited (take or possession prohibited): Atlantic angel, basking, bigeye sand tiger, bigeye thresher, bignose, blacknose, Caribbean sharpnose, dusky, Galapagos, longfin mako, narrowtooth, night, oceanic whitetip, reef, sand tiger, sandbar, sharpnose sevengill, shortfin mako, silky, bigeye sixgill, bluntnose sixgill, smalltail, whale, white
• Do not fish for or target prohibited sharks; trying to catch one counts as pursuing it. If caught, a prohibited shark must stay in the water and be released immediately without undue harm. Applies to vessel and shore anglers
• Non-stainless steel, non-offset circle hooks required with baited hooks for sharks (spiny dogfish excluded)
• Shore anglers: no baited hook on a metal leader longer than 18 in total length; baited hooks may be deployed only by casting with rod and reel; no chumming from shore with anything other than mollusks or crustaceans
• Wire or bolt cutters must be immediately available to release sharks that are not being kept
• Sharks may be taken only by rod and reel or handlines retrieved without mechanical means
• A shark that is not being kept may not be removed from the water: its entire length stays in the water with gills submerged
• Landed sharks must have heads, tails and fins naturally attached; no finning; recreational anglers may not sell, trade or barter sharks or shark pieces
• Federal waters (3 to 200 miles) require a NOAA Highly Migratory Species (HMS) permit, which is vessel-based
• Shark minimum size and possession table last changed Aug 27, 2025; shark fishing regulations table last changed April 17, 2024

Last checked 2026-10-17. A summary, not legal advice; the official rules win. New York State DEC fishing regulations.

Sources

• WCS New York Aquarium news release: sand tiger nursery in Great South Bay (Jan 5, 2016) (Official source)
• On The Water: Long Island and New York Fishing Report, August 13, 2020 (Angler knowledge)
• On The Water: Long Island Fishing Report, August 4, 2022 (Angler knowledge)
• On The Water: Long Island and NYC Fishing Report, July 23, 2026 (Angler knowledge)
• On The Water: Long Island and NYC Fishing Report, August 20, 2026 (Angler knowledge)
• NYSDEC Recreational Saltwater Fishing Regulations: size, possession limits and seasons (fish table last changed May 12, 2026; shark table last changed Aug 27, 2025) (Official source)
• NYSDEC Recreational Shark Fishing: permits, prohibited sharks, shore angler rules (last changed April 17, 2024) (Official source)
• NYSDEC Best Practices for Saltwater Fishing: striped bass and shark circle hook requirements (Official source)

All the fish of Long Island