There is an interesting and thought provoking article in the NY Times
today which attributes shark fishing as a cause for depletion in the
scallop population.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/sc...hp&oref=slogin

It's hard to say how accurate the science is that went into the study
but it did get me thinking about whether shark fishing is common
enough to create a problem.

I know we have at least one or two people here who do some shark
fishing, presumably catch and release. Just how common is shark
fishing however, and do most folks release them alive or not?

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
There is an interesting and thought provoking article in the NY Times
today which attributes shark fishing as a cause for depletion in the
scallop population.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/sc...hp&oref=slogin

It's hard to say how accurate the science is that went into the study
but it did get me thinking about whether shark fishing is common
enough to create a problem.

I know we have at least one or two people here who do some shark
fishing, presumably catch and release. Just how common is shark
fishing however, and do most folks release them alive or not?

In my area (MA) it's very common during the summer. I know half a dozen
charter boat captains/operators and a good portion of their charters are for
sharks. The rest of the common charters are split among bluefish, stripers
and tuna. That's in one marina. I am sure the same is true in all the
others.

Then, there is at least two major shark tournaments up here every season.
The largest draws professional crews on boats from as far away as Florida.
They are a video documented catch and release for blue sharks, but Threshers
and Makos, if they are of a minimum weight, are brought in. I did a couple
of shark tournaments several years ago and will never do it again.

Eisboch

"Eisboch" wrote in message
...

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
There is an interesting and thought provoking article in the NY Times
today which attributes shark fishing as a cause for depletion in the
scallop population.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/29/sc...hp&oref=slogin

It's hard to say how accurate the science is that went into the study
but it did get me thinking about whether shark fishing is common
enough to create a problem.

I know we have at least one or two people here who do some shark
fishing, presumably catch and release. Just how common is shark
fishing however, and do most folks release them alive or not?

In my area (MA) it's very common during the summer. I know half a dozen
charter boat captains/operators and a good portion of their charters are
for sharks. The rest of the common charters are split among bluefish,
stripers and tuna. That's in one marina. I am sure the same is true in
all the others.

Then, there is at least two major shark tournaments up here every season.
The largest draws professional crews on boats from as far away as Florida.
They are a video documented catch and release for blue sharks, but
Threshers and Makos, if they are of a minimum weight, are brought in. I
did a couple of shark tournaments several years ago and will never do it
again.

Eisboch


Forgot Cod charters. Probably the biggest charter business.

Eisboch

On Sun, 01 Apr 2007 13:53:59 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

I know we have at least one or two people here who do some shark
fishing, presumably catch and release. Just how common is shark
fishing however, and do most folks release them alive or not?

I don't go shark fishing anymore because of that very issue - sharks
are overfished.

I read that article last week on another site. Their main contention
is that because the shark population is being slowly decimated, other
critters like rays are cleaning up the scallop beds. It makes some
sense.

This is one area where the IFGA should step in and say no more records
will be entered for catch and kill tournaments. It's not like the
technology for tournaments isn't up to date - laser measuring and
on-water judging and video records works for extreme billfish
tournaments, the same can be done here.

Two seasons ago, the Martha's Vineyard tourney had a huge PR problem.
One of their captains latched into a monster Tiger - (1290 pounds),
but it was late on the last day. It would have been the winning fish,
so the Captain made a choice to continue and try and board the fish.
When they finally figured out they couldn't make it back in time, they
went on with the capture anyway instead of just getting a picture and
cutting it loose.

Major uproar over that one. That's a top of the chain predator and
they just removed it from the ecosystem for the sake of landing a
monster fish.

That's bull**** as far as I'm concerned.

On Sun, 01 Apr 2007 20:32:31 +0000, Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:


I don't go shark fishing anymore because of that very issue - sharks are
overfished.

Add to that a very slow reproductive cycle, and you have a problem. I've
read the Great White reaches sexual maturity in their teens, and may only
have several litters in their lifetime.

"thunder" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 01 Apr 2007 20:32:31 +0000, Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:


I don't go shark fishing anymore because of that very issue - sharks are
overfished.

Add to that a very slow reproductive cycle, and you have a problem. I've
read the Great White reaches sexual maturity in their teens, and may only
have several litters in their lifetime.

Lots of catch and release shark fishing in San Francisco Bay. Some leopard
and 7 gill sharks are kept for the table, but most are C&R. Great Whites
are protected species. And when they were open for fishing, very few were
brought to the boat.

On Apr 2, 1:29 am, "Calif Bill" wrote:
"thunder" wrote in message

news
On Sun, 01 Apr 2007 20:32:31 +0000, Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:

I don't go shark fishing anymore because of that very issue - sharks are
overfished.

Add to that a very slow reproductive cycle, and you have a problem. I've
read the Great White reaches sexual maturity in their teens, and may only
have several litters in their lifetime.

Lots of catch and release shark fishing in San Francisco Bay. Some leopard
and 7 gill sharks are kept for the table, but most are C&R. Great Whites
are protected species. And when they were open for fishing, very few were
brought to the boat.

First off, just about every shark caught, with the exception of Mako
and Thresher, by non-commercial boats is released unharmed, and it's
been like that for probably twenty years now. The last shark
tournament I went to their were probably fifteen, or less, sharks
killed. By me, during the season, their's probably only a dozen or so
tournaments held, and it's getting more and more common for
tournaments to have no fish come in that meet the minimum weight or
length limit requirements. And every fisherman knows if you come back
to the dock with a small shark, your never going to hear the end of
it, and that's a good thing. The problem with sharks has been long
line, and drift net, commercial fishing, and the bulk of the fish are
finned, put quite simply, their fins are cut off and the shark is
thrown overboard to die, if it hasn't already done so. The fins are
used to make soup, and you can store a lot of fins on your average
commercial boat. Sportfishing has got nothing to do with this problem.
But if the commercial guy's can find someone gullable enough to buy
into their story (I didn't read the story, but the New York Times a
great place to start), they'll do it.

Don't expect the commercial fishing of sharks to stop any time soon,
the commercial guy's have got the politicians in their back pockets,
and they sit on most of the fishery management counsels that manage
most fish. So when it comes time to make changes to save the fishery,
don't expect them to cut their numbers. They will cut the
noncommercial numbers and claim their taking action.

John

Exactly like people; you call this slow?

On Apr 1, 4:18 pm, thunder wrote:
On Sun, 01 Apr 2007 20:32:31 +0000, Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
I don't go shark fishing anymore because of that very issue - sharks are
overfished.

Add to that a very slow reproductive cycle, and you have a problem. I've
read the Great White reaches sexual maturity in their teens, and may only
have several litters in their lifetime.