Record Mako killed for what? Sport? Sad...

[erparamedic]

I saw this article on Yahoo news and thought I'd share. This shark was likely of good age... and killed only for sport. :shakehead It lays heavy on my heart when I hear of these animals (and others) killed only for the sport. This shark obviously put up a bit of fight, and sounds as if it died a horrible death. Sad. Just plain sad.


DESTIN, Fla. - A 1,063-pound mako shark hooked close to shore in the Gulf of Mexico is being investigated as a possible world fishing record.

The Sea Ya Later II was cobia fishing when its crew spotted the 12-foot 6-inch shark Wednesday afternoon between Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach. The Mother Lode, a 45-foot charter boat, helped bring in the shark.

They used flying gaffs to secure the fish and then tied the gaffs to the Sea Ya Later II, which was tilting.

"If (the shark) hadn't been as tired as she was, this boat would be sitting on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico," said Lindsey Stanley, the Sea Ya Later IIs captain, told the Northwest Florida Daily News.

After the shark died, it took eight men to pull it aboard the Mother Lode and take it to Destin.

The registered weight of 1,063 pounds makes the catch eligible for the world record in the 30-pound line class for a short-fin mako. The class record is a 997-pound, 11-ounce shark caught in Sydney, Australia, in 1995. The largest mako recorded in the all-tackle division was a 1,221 pounder caught in Massachusetts in 2001.

"I'm investigating it as a world record," said Jim Roberson, who represents the Panhandle for the International Game Fish Association.

___

Information from: Northwest Florida Daily News, http://www.nwfdailynews.com

 

[Spectre]

I just saw it on the news, and they're intending to eat it; so it's not like they just killed it for the hell of it.

 

[erparamedic]

I see... the article didn't say what they intended to do with it... thank you for adding that info.

However, I still think if they were fishing for cobia, they should have stuck with cobia. My reasonable deduction tells me the only reason they killed the shark is because it was "big". Just my thoughts/2 psi.

 

[RoyN]

Poor mako shark. Killed just for a record....

 

[MantaRey]

Imagine how big it would've gotten if it wasn't murder. What the hell is wrong with people?

"If (the shark) hadn't been as tired as she was, this boat would be sitting on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico,"

Yeah right.

 

[Sue Sue]

Killing a magnificant being such as a 1000 + Mako shark, or any other wild fish or animal for the Sport of it, is very sad. Intending to eat it is a good reason to some, but, not for me. Also, once they go through the measuring, weighing, and photographing process, it could very well be to late to eat it. I have seen this happen first hand many years ago with a beautiful Marlin that my mother hooked and and two men had to bring in. Once the photos were done, the fish was unedible and it was wasted. From that day I vowed never to fish or hunt for sport even though my brother and father still do. They positively support hunting and fishing, I don't and they know it. They have their opinion, I have mine. Agree-disagree....with or not, it's up to you. SS

 

[Flightlead]

Sorry but... in this life if you eat meat (include the meat of a fish) you are either a hunter or you scavenge someone else's kills.

Think about that for a second. Which would you rather be?

Now, in my mind there are two classes of hunters. The first class, and the one to which I hope I belong, are the "respectful hunters". These are hunters who educate themselves about their prey, understand and respect them and their place in the environment. These hunters never kill something they are not going to eat (unless to serve some other purpose such as culling injured, diseased, or over populated areas). These hunters often don't take their limit. They are not killing just to kill. These hunters are much closer to their prey on an emotional level than many PETA nut bags. These hunters understand the majesty and beauty of the environment, their game. These hunters are frequently fanatic about the environment, about animals (not just game animals), and often go to lengths to help preserve our natural environment.

Then there is the other class of hunter which I like to call "f-ing ************s". These are the f-wads who desecrate the environment with their trash, stacks of beer cans, corpses of animals killed for no other reason than size, fun, whatever. These people have no respect for anything. Never learn about their prey, the environment etc. In fact are usually "hunting" for whatever moves first.

My point? If you eat meat, don't get all pious about "hunting" without qualifying yourself a bit better. In fact, take that a bit further...Are you wearing leather? Do you use glue? What do you feed your pets? Did you know there are animal products in plastics?

 

[reeldive]

the Sea Ya Later II, which was tilting.

"If (the shark) hadn't been as tired as she was, this boat would be sitting on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico,"

Would'ave made a neat new dive site-- small but of historic value --

 

[Wildcard]

Ive been on both sides of the coin. I comm fished for a few years and fully support responsabile (spellin has done gone out the window tonight. commercial fishing. This was sport fishing. Sport fishiermen taking hundreds of pounds of fish can only= waste.
OK, goingbacktomynopostingwhiledrinkingrule..........Gnite

 

[diverdowndh]

Flightlead, you got it right. While not supporting anything that "wastes" an animal or just killing for sport, I hunt elk every year and run out of elk meat every year before another season rolls around. I have seen many so called hunters who just want to shoot up the place, or just want to kill something. For me, it is either that or buy steaks, hamburger, ham, chops, etc from the store.
Taking this shark just appears to be kiling for nothing more than killing though, and I don't like it.... world record my glutemus maximus.