IT IS never going to become a cuddly toy like the panda, and it lacks the big cat mystique of the Siberian tiger. But the predatory spurdog, once one of the eastern Atlantic's most prolific small sharks, is equally threatened with extinction in Scottish waters.

And next weekend, Scottish sea anglers will aim to put the bite on fisheries minister Richard Lochhead when they carry out a voluntary two-day tagging exercise aimed at delivering research evidence to support their plea for the creation of a marine reserve to help the species recover.

Full Story: Sunday Herald