Megamouth shark in Donsol

Kevster

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• Apr 7, 2009

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Philippine fisherman catch and eat a megamouth shark | News.com.au Top stories | News.com.au

Interesting story.
Only 41 st recorded mega mouth shark.
Unfortunately caught/eaten in Donsol.

 

greatwolf

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• Apr 8, 2009

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Babydamulag

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As much as I want to say "What a waste" I simply can't bring my self to do it. The locals ate the animal. That is better than just taking the fins. I suppose out of ignorance of the animals rare existence they just simply ate it.

 

A

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While true Babydamulag....this is NOT the 1800's anymore. These people were told about the rarity of this animal and they chose to eat it anyways as a "delicacy". It is not like they were a group of starving people that needed to eat THAT shark at THAT time.

 

chip104

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• Apr 8, 2009

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AquaExplorer:

While true Babydamulag....this is NOT the 1800's anymore. These people were told about the rarity of this animal and they chose to eat it anyways as a "delicacy". It is not like they were a group of starving people that needed to eat THAT shark at THAT time.

Click to expand...

The dish they made is called [-]"ginataan"[/-] "kinunot" which is native to the region hence being called a local "delicacy". Which really isn't true because it is common all over the Philippines. Ginataan is any meat cooked in cocunut's milk. Kinunot is specifically shark or ray cooked with coconut milk and chili.

Assuming the shark was dead due to being trawled, I don't see a problem with them eating it. Nothing went to waste. What the WWF should have done is taken some samples of the shark so it could be analyzed by interested researchers. The fishermen would have definitely obliged.

 

Last edited: Apr 9, 2009

CODMAN

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• Apr 8, 2009

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Chip, very well said. Chances are the shark was dead, or dying by the time they realised it was in the net. Too bad they weren't able to collect usefull data on it before it was al covered in curry sauce!!

 

drbill

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• Apr 8, 2009

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Do we know these fishermen didn't need the food? It is easy for us in "the West" (I thought the PI were west of the States), with our fairly ample food supplies, to criticize the actions of others who may not have such access. I don't know whether these fishermen needed the catch for food or not. However, it was dead or dying.

I regret that it was eaten IF there were no samples taken for scientific study. I believe the WWF sent someone there, and hope they took some samples. Was the WWF ready to act quickly on this and get the material they felt was necessary? While I applaud the WWF's efforts in general, did they miss the boat by not acting quickly here? I'm simply asking this question, not really criticizing them... I don't know the answer and hope someone does.

 

OP

Kevster

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• Apr 8, 2009

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I just hope megamouth shark number 42 shows up the next time i am in the Philippines!!!
There is a 7-8m specimen in the Perth museum in Oz. Its an impressive fish

 

CODMAN

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It's not easy to react in time to accidental captures like this to be able to take viable samples before decay sets in. Especially for organisations like this who aren't specifically science oriented and don't necessarily have the conservation material on hand? Or the know how... I mean even small genetic samples need the right preservation materials (often a cryo-vial and ethanol) taken with a clean (not contaminated) instrument or they are worthless. So if you don't have what it takes on hand, and somebody who knows what he/she is doing, you can easily miss the boat...

It would have been really interesting to be able to preserve the stomach for examination and determine what it's recent diet was. Or to take some structure samples for aging...

Her Dr.Bill, what structure is used for aging sharks? I can't even remember if they have Otoliths...

Cheers!

 

jigo

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• Apr 8, 2009

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chip104:

The dish they made is called "ginataan" which is native to the region hence being called a local "delicacy". Which really isn't true because it is common all over the Philippines. Ginataan is any meat cooked in cocunut's milk.

Assuming the shark was dead due to being trawled, I don't see a problem with them eating it. Nothing went to waste. What the WWF should have done is taken some samples of the sharks so it could be analyzed by interested researchers. The fishermen would have definitely obliged.

Click to expand...

going back to chip's comment, i think the dish is called "kinunot" which is usually shark or stingray or any type of ray cooked in coconut milk and chili which is a dish common in that area.

agree that while it is unfortunate that they ate it, at least it didnt go to waste. i doubt if they had access to lots of ice or a big enough freezer to have preserved the big fish.