1100 lb Tiger Shark caught in contest near Martha's Vineyard - Combined Thread

[gangrel441]

I know it would be kind of a tall order considering the game involved, but I was kind of surprised to find that this tournament isn't catch and release. Most high profile tournaments I have seen have been (i.e., B.A.S.S. Pro tournament, etc.). As a sport fisherman myself, I have always seen killing for the sake of killing as taboo, and thought that viewpoint was pretty universally held. When I first heard about this catch, and that the shark was killed for the sake of the contest, it took the thrill out of knowing that a 1,100 lb tiger shark was out there. I am definately in the camp that would rather see this guy from under the waves than hanging from a block and tackle.

 

[Wayward Son]

Most of the sharks were released. The tourney is also used to support research, so some of them are killed.

People get to have fun, the sharks are mostly released, and the ones not released are examined by scientists and then turned into food for homeless people.

 

[gangrel441]

Most of the sharks were released. The tourney is also used to support research, so some of them are killed.

People get to have fun, the sharks are mostly released, and the ones not released are examined by scientists and then turned into food for homeless people.

If that is the case, I feel a little more at ease with this event. The story I was shown did not cover that aspect of the tournament, and the guys who caught the tiger seemed pretty cavalier about the fact that they killed her to bring her in.

I don't follow it closely, but I seem to recall that in the B.A.S.S. Pro Tour tournament, the catch doesn't count if it doesn't survive. They only weigh live fish, and all fish are released after weigh-in. But I could be wrong...

 

[Wayward Son]

Here's part of an article on it:

The full article is here:
http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/...nster_shark.php

...
But for Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries biologist Greg Skomal, who studies every shark that is brought in to be weighed, the weekend is more about the science than the slaughter.

"Whether or not it is okay to kill sharks for sport, that's a philosophical discussion," he said. "And as far as the conservation aspect is concerned, this event would not be held if the sharks were in any trouble.

"People have to remember that this is a fishing contest," Mr. Skomal said. "How can you condone the striped bass and bluefish derby and not the Monster Shark tournament?"

Mr. Skomal said the tournament provides data that forms a basis for the state's shark management policy. Along with a research team of state and national fisheries management experts, he extracts samples and performs autopsies on each fish brought in to be weighed.

"The sharks give us almost everything we need in terms of vital information," said Dr. Nancy Kohler, a marine biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Service in Narragansett, R.I. "We get to look into many different areas, from age and growth to reproductive and feeding habits to migration. We have gotten much needed biological information from this tournament."

What each boat releases over the two days is just as important to biologists as what comes in. Unlike other tournaments, the Monster Shark tournament requires each boat to record total catch information - a log of every shark caught and released during the two days. The log - which recorded almost 2,500 sharks last year - helps biologists gauge critical information about the general health of the different populations.

"This lets us generate on an annual basis a relative abundance index, to chart over the years the general health of various shark populations," Mr. Skomal said. "It's a rough cross section, but because it is done every year, we are able to understand any trends, and that is very important in managing them."

Mr. Skomal said recent shark tournaments have given biologists reams of information on the thresher shark. In years past the thresher had been caught with far greater infrequency, but lately it has been some of the more common sharks reeled in. Information obtained from the fish helped create a growth curve that the state now uses to manage the population.

It's a fact Mr. James is quick to emphasize.

"This is not shark extermination weekend on Martha's Vineyard," he said. "I am waste deep in fisheries management and conservation, and I think the limits and regulations we place have in place reflect that."

 

[isurus]

Here's part of an article on it:

The full article is here:
http://www.mvgazette.com/news/2005/...nster_shark.php

...
But for Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries biologist Greg Skomal, who studies every shark that is brought in to be weighed, the weekend is more about the science than the slaughter.

"Whether or not it is okay to kill sharks for sport, that's a philosophical discussion," he said. "And as far as the conservation aspect is concerned, this event would not be held if the sharks were in any trouble.

Mr. Skomal said the tournament provides data that forms a basis for the state's shark management policy. Along with a research team of state and national fisheries management experts, he extracts samples and performs autopsies on each fish brought in to be weighed.

"The sharks give us almost everything we need in terms of vital information," said Dr. Nancy Kohler, a marine biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Service in Narragansett, R.I. "We get to look into many different areas, from age and growth to reproductive and feeding habits to migration. We have gotten much needed biological information from this tournament."

when Japan argue for "scientific whaling" and then use the resultant meat for food we tend to rubbish this argument.

 

[Wayward Son]

when Japan argue for "scientific whaling" and then use the resultant meat for food we tend to rubbish this argument.

Dunno *** that has to do with this. People here specifically *****ed that the fish was not eaten. They specifically *****ed that it was only killed for chest thumping neandertals fun.

I posted an article that specifically addressed those demonstrably false claims. Most of the sharks were not killed. They were caught, had various data recorded, and released. The only thing brought back was the records. Of the ones that were killed, they were not killed for no use. They provided both scientific data & food for people. This is making the maximum use of the resource, as compared to the utter waste of simply killing them and making no use of the carcasses.

If your opinion is that those facts are "rubbish", well it's yours and more power to you. My point is that the prior hand wringing was over claims that were false.

 

[isurus]

If your opinion is that those facts are "rubbish", well it's yours and more power to you. My point is that the prior hand wringing was over claims that were false.

I'm not disbuting the facts, I'm disputing whether the facts add up to a valid argument for doing what is being done. fwiw I'm a big fan of sport fishing as a conservation tool - after all money from fishing boat charters to a healthy fishery is a good reason not to longline out the stocks, and I'm not even sure where I stand on this tournament.

My point was simply that the mere fact of them going to some use (and obviously I'd rather that than they having been killed were wasted) does not necessarily justify killing reproductive size individuals if catch and release was a possibility and to point out the similarity between the two arguments one of which seems to be more acceptable than the other.

 

[svthom]

Okay, so we are the intruders in the sharks world.. How about scorpions, ants, lice, snakes, spiders and whatever existed on your spot before your house was placed there?

Wellcome to dive on our old divesites in South Africa. Here we live in a sort of aquarium made for rich tourist to come and do shark-spotting and cage-diving. The sharks are increasing heavily in numbers (theyr prey; the seals are not...), and we do not any more dare to swim or scuba were we used to do it before.

In the african sun, 45'C (110'F) we have to sit and look at the water, because a mighty huge submarine is controlling our neighborhood. One old lady was eaten by one of these just some months ago, the same with a 5.year medical student last month.

If you want to say that the ocean is solely for the shark, then it's okay. But, if you want to have people to enjoy water, kids to learn how to swim, divers to dive etc, then , in South Africa, we need the numbers of sharks to go down.

 

[docmartin]

so they bring back the records, have them dissected and feed them to the homeless? i am not sure that feeding homeless people the meat of the biggest and oldest sharks is such a laudable idea given the troubling mercury content in shark meat which is obviously even more of an issue in older sharks.

 

[Wayward Son]

Look, if you don't want them killed for anything, fine. Just say so.

Bottom line is that they were:

1) Taken legally.
2) Studied.
3) Consumed in some manner.

Now, if those things don't make you happy about it, then it's pretty clear that nothing will. But it *does* refute the complaints that item 2 and 3 were not occuring. Anyone who engaged in the complaint that those things were not occuring, yet now still complains, is simply moving the target and will never be pleased.