PDC bull sharks wiped out.

[orm]

This was buried in another thread, but I think it deserves a thread of it's own.

Por Esto! | Yucatn

I dived with the sharks on Thursday, there were about 5 at the time, two of which my buddy recognised from the previous year owing to the large hooks in their mouths, two large females.

It's thought that the group that turns up in Playa every year from Nov to March number from 10-15. Last Saturday a local fisherman, restaurant owner and resident of Puerto Morelos fished nine of these creatures out of the water to sell for cheap fish meat.

This is a massive blow to the area and of course these sharks. They don't reach sexual maturity for ten years, this is a big, big blow to their group.

There has been two 'shark dives' since Saturday, but there have been no further sightings.


I feel sickened by this act of greed and what to me amounts to vandalism.

Meanwhile, the authorities stand by powerless because there's no law prohibiting this one person to come and take these magnificent creatures out the water for his own gain.

 

[Christi]

This was buried in another thread, but I think it deserves a thread of it's own.

Por Esto! | Yucatn

I dived with the sharks on Thursday, there were about 5 at the time, two of which my buddy recognised from the previous year owing to the large hooks in their mouths, two large females.

It's thought that the group that turns up in Playa every year from Nov to March number from 10-15. Last Saturday a local fisherman, restaurant owner and resident of Puerto Morelos fished nine of these creatures out of the water to sell for cheap fish meat.

This is a massive blow to the area and of course these sharks. They don't reach sexual maturity for ten years, this is a big, big blow to their group.

There has been two 'shark dives' since Saturday, but there have been no further sightings.


I feel sickened by this act of greed and what to me amounts to vandalism.

Meanwhile, the authorities stand by powerless because there's no law prohibiting this one person to come and take these magnificent creatures out the water for his own gain.

Is it just possible that the sharks are migrating or "hanging out" in other areas because they have better things to do than to entertain tourists???

 

[annlaur]

I'll repost what I wrote in the other thread with a quick translation of the article.

Orm, do you have evidence that the sharks have been killed ? From the article it only says that the fisherman was seen throwing lines by a dive op after they surfaced and saw no shark in the water. IMO, the Por Esto story has a biased feel to it, like it's only reporting the opinion of shark-feeding dive-ops. You mention the fisherman owns a restaurant. That is not mentionned in the article. Do you have any additional info ? Being a sort of journalist (copyeditor actually), I wouldn't jump to conclusions based on something I read in the news…

Por Esto! | Yucatn

​

Quick translation of the main paragraphs :

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, SOLIDARIDAD, 11 de noviembre.-

A fisherman from Puerto Morelos is accused by dive ops of having killed 9 bullsharks. These animals were a touristy attraction, so besides committing a crime against marine life, this killing has also left more than 500 families without a source of income, and financially hurt many others who benefited indirectly from the presence of the sharks.
The area where the killing occurred last Saturday is located about 800 m from the beach (2400 ft), in front of Avenida Constituyentes, at a depth of 30 m (90 ft).
[snip]
Dive ops take tourists, mainly foreigners, to share a moment with those sharks, which weigh between 120 and 150 kg for an approximate length of 2,5 m. During the encounter, divers have the opportunity to feed the bulls, as well as take the traditional souvenir picture. No attack has been reported, which refutes the common belief that these animal are a danger to man.

At the end of October, the dive ops counted 9 bullsharks in this area where they come every year for the winter months, but on Saturday Nov. 6 they couldn't find them. Then they saw a fisherman, whom they identified as Humberto Anduz from Puerto Morelos, throwing a bottom line to fish the sharks.
[snip]
The dive ops said that in the next few days they might mobilize their resources and require that the authorities investigate the matter and sanction the people responsible.


Even in Spanish, that story is confusing. I didn't read any evidence that the sharks are dead.

The statement about more than 500 families being out of work sounds exagerated (assuming 10 employees per dive op, that would mean 50 ops losing all of their business because they stopped doing shark dives…)

Much of the story (especially the part about bullsharks not representing a potential danger) sounds like a live feed from a shark-feeding dive-op to me.

Not saying I'd support anyone hurting these animals. But I'll definitely wait for a more thorough report. For all we know at this point, the bulls may just show up alive and kicking tomorrow.

However, I haven't yet seen anything in Por Esto about the nurse and Caribbean reef sharks that were found dead at Punta Sur in Cozumel a few weeks ago. There was plenty of evidence there, as Scubaboarders have even posted pictures/videos on the board. Maybe I missed it ?

 

[deco_martini]

If they were fished out, the divers who made a spectacle of their presence making it known are partially to blame.

A few years ago, tiger sharks were made easy victims in South Africa as well. Advertising "sharks here" is a great help to fishers.

 

[orm]

I'll repost what I wrote in the other thread with a quick translation of the article.

Orm, do you have evidence that the sharks have been killed ?

No, I don't.

 

[orm]

If they were fished out, the divers who made a spectacle of their presence making it known are partially to blame.

A few years ago, tiger sharks were made easy victims in South Africa as well. Advertising "sharks here" is a great help to fishers.

You have a valid point.

 

[annlaur]

Hopefully the sharks will show up in a few days. Hopefully neither on a BBQ grill nor too close to swimmers and shore.

 

[Mike]

Look for a spike in fish gut prices in PDC as the dive ops chum twice as hard now.

Is fishing for bull sharks illegal? If so I would like them to punish the guy. If it's not then I guess there nothing to talk about.

 

[Geofish Dive in Playa]

This is the same group of sharks every year and when 1 let alone 9 gets fished or killed all of them will leave. There have been studies about this and one example is Great Whites. When a Great White is fished out of an area you won't see the same ones for a very long time or ever. They are not stupid animals, they know that members of their group are gone and their defense to that is leaving and not coming back. My prediction is that we won't see them again this year and possibly for a while after.

 

[pcornell]

Just because it's not illegal doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.

That sometimes leads to discussions.