A giant mako shark caught by a sports-fisherman in California Monday has spurred a conversation about declining shark populations worldwide, reports the Associated Press.
The female shark caught Monday off Huntington Beach by Jason Johnston of Mesquite, Texas, weighed in at 1,323 pounds and measured 11 feet long and eight feet around at its midsection.
The shark would represent a new record if the measurements withstand certification by the Florida-based International Game Fish Association. It would smash the previous mark — a 1,221-pound mako caught off Massachusetts in 2001 — by more than 100 pounds.
However not everyone is happy about the decision to land and kill the shark. The AP reports that “angry callers from as far away as Australia” are complaining about the catch given declining shark populations due to unsustainable fishing practices.
“People should be viewing these sharks as wonderful animals that are important to the ocean and admiring how beautiful they are” rather than “spilling their blood and guts,” David McGuire, director of advocacy group Shark Stewards, told the Los Angeles Times.
Roughly 100 million sharks are killed annually according to a 2013 study published in the journal Marine Policy. Most sharks are killed for their fins, which are considered a delicacy in Asia.
The large-scale decline in sharks has been linked to broader ecological changes, including cascading effects through the food chain. For example, research suggests that the disappearance of sharks in some areas has allowed populations of rays to grow, increasing pressure on shellfish and other prey species.
Related papers:
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Boris Worm, Brendal Davis, Lisa Kettemer, Christine A. Ward-Paige, Demian Chapman, Michael R. Heithaus, Steven T. Kessel, Samuel H. Gruber. Global catches, exploitation rates, and rebuilding options for sharks. Marine Policy. 2013.
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Ransom A. Myers, Julia K. Baum, Travis D. Shepherd, Sean P. Powers, Charles H. Peterson. Cascading Effects of the Loss of Apex Predatory Sharks from a Coastal Ocean. Science 30 March 2007: Vol. 315 no. 5820 pp. 1846-1850 DOI: 10.1126/science.1138657
This article was written for Mongabay.com and re-posted on Focusing on Wildlife.
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