In February, the Ocearch team was denied a state permit to catch and tag great white sharks in state waters. In his letter denying the application, David Pierce, director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries, cited concerns with the team fishing for great whites in an area near public beaches. Without that permit, Ocearch, which has a federal research permit to catch, tag and collect biological samples from white sharks, was anchored outside state waters, 4½ miles off Nantucket. At the same time the bait on seven lines of Ocearch buoys and hooks was going untouched, beaches along the...