750 pound Mako gaffed and killed

[DebbyDiver]

Got this in my Facebook e-mail. Please share with any marina operators you know.

Message to Marina Network Group Members

To members of Marina Network Group



Hi Group!

We ( The Administrators) are relaying this message to you at the request of one of our Group Officers, Luke Tipple, Director of the Shark-Free Marina Initiative....Please everyone, take heed and consider this truly important, intelligent and worthy initiative.....

From Luke:
" G’day to members of the Marina Network Group,

This is a brief message to ask for your assistance in promoting the Shark-Free Marina Initiative in your local areas and workplaces.

What we do is a pretty simple concept, we prevent sharks from being landed at participating marinas therefore reducing worldwide shark mortality. It is no secret that shark populations are in trouble and while there is little we can do about illegal trade in shark fins there is a a lot we can do to locally by limiting the number of places a dead shark can be harvested.

As business owners I appreciate that you may have interest in fishermen bringing sharks back to your facility. Let’s be clear, we are not trying to completely eradicate shark fishing, we are however making it easier to police and enforce fishing laws by limiting the number of places sharks may be brought back to. For most recreational fishermen this poses no problem as we also support catch and release fishing.

Here is what I am asking of you...

If you own a marina or marine related business:

Please visit our registry page at http://www.sharkfreemarinas.com/register-shark-free-marina.shtml and register your business as Shark-Free. In return you will receive advertising on our site and the right to use our logo. We can provide wholesale price dock signs or you may download a PDF version for your preferred screen printer to use. We will never solicit funds or charge you for these services.

If you are an individual:

1. Visit our Facebook page at Shark Free Marinas | Facebook and become a fan to receive updates

2. Register as a Regional Ambassador and use our provided literature and tools to approach and speak to local businesses in your area

As Ocean professionals we are by default the stewards of the sea, and many of us control public access to the water which means we have an obligation to be responsible and conscious of today’s conservation issues.

Sharks are important, I ask that you help Shark-Free Marinas to ensure they are around for generations to come.

Thank you for your time and all the support of those already helping our cause.

Sincerely,

Luke Tipple

Director of the Shark-free Marina Initiative "

SHARK-FREE MARINAS: Reducing worldwide shark mortality.

 

[NJ to FLA]

Someone must've told them that what they did was illegal because this morning they said at one point they had her on a hook.

 

[Capt Scotty]

Did you know that only Four marinas and resorts have joined the Shark Free Marinas effort in reducing shark mortality in the USA?

 

[DebbyDiver]

Capt. Scotty, that's pathetic. The others need some educating.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I find myself again agreeing with ONESPEED... within the law, eat the catch.. enjoy.

I work for the government I enforce laws and I do program evaluation. Sadly, I can tell you from personal experience that we have lots of laws that are just plain stupid. Just because something is legal does not mean it is the right thing to do. The problem is the average voter is either poorly informed and/or lacks critical thinking skills and/or lakcs the willingness to use them and/or is so fixated on personal isses that they do not vote in a manner that supports the larger public interest. In short, the average voter is not very responsible and fails to elect responsible legislators and hold themn accountable for the laws they pass.

Consider the recent banking and housing market disasters - all of what was done was 100% legal but housing and banking industry experts all addmitted it was an incredibly bad idea well before the crashes and knew the and those crashes were inevitable. But the practice continued as right up until the crash lots of people were making money hand over fist (and then the government bails the banks who lost money out to keep the entire economy from tanking). It was all about money, not about what was right with no regard to driving the economy in the ditch at great personal and financial cost to the average tax payer.

So if you follow the "it's legal therefore it must be ok" line of thought then you will clearly have no problems with fishermen taking slow growing, long lived and slow to reproduce apex predators like the Mako shark.

More recent research suggests makos grow much slower than previously thought, making them much more prone to overfishing than initially suggessted - meaning current legislation and management policies are seriosuly flawed. Studies also indicate that while population numbers are reasonably stable, the average size of Makos are declining. When you combine a decline in the age and size of individuals in a population that has a slow sexual maturation (4 years), a long gestation period (18 months) and relatively few young that are born, the logic is pretty clear that a sharp drop in population nunmbers is looming once the average age of the population falls below the age needed to at least replace the existing population numnbers (about 6 years minimum).

To make it worse, female makos are larger than males which means they are then more likely to be targeted by trophy fishermen. I am aware of no other sustainable wildlife management policy that would target prime breeding age females, except for short periods of time in cases where a given population has exploded in numbers and grossly exceeds the carrying capacity of tghe environment. In most cases, management polices seek to target males and protect breeding females as any other policy results in a drop in population.

Consequently statements like this one and onespeed's tend to peg both my BS and Blissful Ignorance meters. Feel free to fish for makos all you want but please don't show up at the polls to vote as doing so just keeps the idiots who write legislation like this in office.

 

[SkimFisher]

Personally, I wouldn't have kept it even if it was caught legally. Too big for my tastes. That's just me. Having said that I also wouldn't deny someone else their right to keep it if it was, in fact, a legal catch.

BUT:

There's no hook in that sharks mouth. At no point in that video is there a hook in that sharks mouth. The leader would be unmistakable. Not to mention that the presence of a leader, despite the fishes size, would have made it easier to land. Instead of leadering the fish, they are throwing gaffs at it. Even if I give it the benefit of the doubt and take last-minute improvisation into consideration (ie - no leader, just bare line) - you'd still be able to see the bare line. They're fishing for swordfish, which means they've got heavy tackle laid out...not 20lb mono. *Watching the video again you can CLEARLY see the line in the sword's mouth. I rest my case.

To me, there's just no sport in what they've done...that's a cheap "catch". That's like hunting at the zoo.

 

[ONESPEED]

I work for the government I enforce laws and I do program evaluation. Sadly, I can tell you from personal experience that we have lots of laws that are just plain stupid. Just because something is legal does not mean it is the right thing to do. The problem is the average voter is either poorly informed and/or lacks critical thinking skills and/or lakcs the willingness to use them and/or is so fixated on personal isses that they do not vote in a manner that supports the larger public interest. In short, the average voter is not very responsible and fails to elect responsible legislators and hold themn accountable for the laws they pass.

Consider the recent banking and housing market disasters - all of what was done was 100% legal but housing and banking industry experts all addmitted it was an incredibly bad idea well before the crashes and knew the and those crashes were inevitable. But the practice continued as right up until the crash lots of people were making money hand over fist (and then the government bails the banks who lost money out to keep the entire economy from tanking). It was all about money, not about what was right with no regard to driving the economy in the ditch at great personal and financial cost to the average tax payer.

So if you follow the "it's legal therefore it must be ok" line of thought then you will clearly have no problems with fishermen taking slow growing, long lived and slow to reproduce apex predators like the Mako shark.

More recent research suggests makos grow much slower than previously thought, making them much more prone to overfishing than initially suggessted - meaning current legislation and management policies are seriosuly flawed. Studies also indicate that while population numbers are reasonably stable, the average size of Makos are declining. When you combine a decline in the age and size of individuals in a population that has a slow sexual maturation (4 years), a long gestation period (18 months) and relatively few young that are born, the logic is pretty clear that a sharp drop in population nunmbers is looming once the average age of the population falls below the age needed to at least replace the existing population numnbers (about 6 years minimum).

To make it worse, female makos are larger than males which means they are then more likely to be targeted by trophy fishermen. I am aware of no other sustainable wildlife management policy that would target prime breeding age females, except for short periods of time in cases where a given population has exploded in numbers and grossly exceeds the carrying capacity of tghe environment. In most cases, management polices seek to target males and protect breeding females as any other policy results in a drop in population.

Consequently statements like this one and onespeed's tend to peg both my BS and Blissful Ignorance meters. Feel free to fish for makos all you want but please don't show up at the polls to vote as doing so just keeps the idiots who write legislation like this in office.

Thanks for the input, the next time you want to have a hissy fit/political rant perhaps you should do it in the pub, and run spellcheck. Calling someone ignorant holds little value when the accuser can't form a sentence....IJS....

 

[walke121]

Did you know that only Four marinas and resorts have joined the Shark Free Marinas effort in reducing shark mortality in the USA?

Good luck getting marinas to agree with making it illegal to bring in legal fish. I am not saying it was ok to gaff the shark without a being hooked. I know if my marina went to this they would lose more than half their business. I would take my $4k a year I pay to keep my boat there elsewhere. Most of the marinas in my area, in both AL and NJ have shark tournaments. The gov't regulates the fisheries enough. I don't need some marina telling me what to I can and can't bring in if its legal.

 

[Capt Scotty]

From the Shark Free Marinas website....

"On Tuesday, Florida TV station Just News 10 reported on a 748lb Mako shark that appeared to have been free-gaffed from the water, a practice that is illegal in State and Federal waters. Shark-Free Marinas picked up on the possible violation and asked for clarification from JN10. Today they have responded and been caught out."

 

[deepstops]

NOAA is handling the investigation. Unless these guys can produce video that shows something the YouTube video doesn't, there will likely be a prosecution.