Great White hooked in Florida

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CaliDenna

Contributor
Messages
78
Reaction score
37
Location
Treasure Coast, Florida
# of dives
100 - 199
Stuff like this just makes me soooooooo angry! They should be jailed, fined and made to attend Shark conservation and awareness courses.

A three hour tour....did they not think that would harm a protected species?? And they didn't mention how long they tortured the Goliath Grouper or what the outcome of that was.

Great White Shark: A Once in a Lifetime Catch | ABC News Blogs - Yahoo!

For Captain Joe Maisano of Treasure Island, Fla., and fisherman Fab Marchese of Ontario, Canada, it seemed like it would be just another day out on the water, but that quickly changed when the two fishermen spotted a rare great white shark.Maisano, 26, was about 30 miles off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico last Friday when he noticed what looked like a great white shark."I have seen 'Jaws' enough times to know what they look like," said Maisano. "It just smelled the blood in the water, because we have been sitting there for several hours and he just wanted to come up and get some food."Joe Maisano and his father Sam have owned the fishing charter company Go Fast Fishing Charters for the past 12 years, but neither of them had ever seen a great white before."It looked like a submarine. With a tail," said Maisano. Maisano told ABC News that he first spotted the great white 10 minutes before he alerted everyone else on the boat.Maisano began throwing more bait into the water to lure the shark in closer. Marchese then threw out a baited fishing line, which hooked the shark within 20 minutes."Well we hooked in a 350 pound goliath grouper earlier, and you cannot compare that fight with the great white," said Marchese.

The fishermen pulled up the boat's anchor and then let the great white drag the boat around for the next three hours.
"It was like a slow steady pull, I mean great whites are not very fast sharks, so it was a slow, solid weight," Maisano said. "He was anywhere from 16-18 feet [long] and it could have weighed from 2,500-4,000 pounds. That is what the experts are telling us."Sighting of these sharks are very rare. "I had one of my buddies about five or six years ago, who caught one on a long line and that was the last one I know about, that was caught along here," said Maisano.The fishermen said they had to let the shark go because they are a prohibited species. "You are not even allowed to bring it in the boat, you have to leave it in the water," Maisano said. If a great white is killed, there could be a fine of $25,000-$40,000.The two men did not release the beast until they snapped plenty of photos and video of their monstrous catch.
 
At least they didn't cut its fins off for soup...

Sent from my pasture using Tabableet 2
 
Hope his boat sinks in the marina overnight when no ones on it and they find a chunk bitten out of the bottom. Scumbags.
 
Three hours dragging around the boat? They likely damaged the shark permanently. And a Goliath grouper earlier?

Glad their names are out there. Now for the backlash.
 
What a couple of knucleheads...

I would like to know what the authorities are doing...probably nothing but eating donuts.

Cop & Donut.jpg
 
just an FYI - it appears that in Florida waters it is not illegal to catch and release great whites.

This is per FWC website

no matter how pitiful you feel that these people are for catching the shark, they did not technically do anything illegal. Much like the young man who caught and killed the octopus in Washington state the act is horrendous, but catching the shark is not illegal.

as far as dragging the boat around for 3 hours, I am poking around the FWC site to see if they mention anything about abuse, harassment or something similar.
 
Feel free to post your thoughts on their facebook page Go Fast Fishing Charters - Treasure Island, FL - Fishing, Hunting and Fishing | Facebook


Here is what California law says. Here in Cali they would be breaking the law, as a commercial operation.

"Q: Is fishing for white sharks illegal?

White sharks are indeed illegal to take and have been protected in all California waters since January 1, 1994. Title 14, California Code of Regulations, Fish and Game Code Section 28.06 on page 25 of the California Sportfishing Regulations booklet clearly states that white sharks many not be taken under a sport fishing license. Commercial fishing operations may not target white sharks, either." (They chummed and baited a hook trying to catch the white shark.)


Florida on the other hand.

"Anglers may catch and release prohibited shark species in state waters."

These are Florida's guidelines, which they didn't seem to follow.


Catch and release methods: By using the following techniques when fishing for shark, anglers can greatly increase fish survival rates.

  • Use tackle heavy enough to land a fish quickly to reduce exhaustion, which could result in its death or weaken it making it more vulnerable to predators. (Prohibited species that die while on the line after being caught in state waters should be returned to the water.)
  • Release the fish while it is in the water when possible.
  • Use a de-hooking device to remove hooks safely.
  • Use non-stainless steel hooks - these hooks can dissolve if they remain in a fish.
  • Use non-offset circle hooks when fishing with natural bait to avoid gut hooking a fish - circle hooks tend to hook fish in the jaw, making them easy to remove.
  • Bend barbs down on hooks so they can be removed with less damage to a fish.
 

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