Deep sea fishermen have long delighted in the battle to land a shark. The love of shark fishing has pushed many shark species to the brink of extinction. Much of the shark fishing was done to feed the gluttonous Chinese appetite for shark fin soup. With shark populations falling so dramatically over the last few decades, many anglers are releasing sharks after they catch them to avoid decimating the population further.
Although many fishermen think that they do not hurt sharks because they always release them after they are caught, this is in fact untrue. In recent years, biologists have come to discover that catch and release is harmful to sharks. Even if you think that shark fishing isn’t harmful because you release them after you hook them, the fight to free themselves is very perilous for sharks.
That fight is one of the reasons that shark fishing is so thrilling for anglers. When you fight to land a shark for an hour, you will see that fishing can be a true challenge. Unfortunately, this challenge comes at a price. Although the shark will undoubtedly swim away as fast as possible when you release it, catch and release is harmful to sharks.
Biologists have evidence of this. They have documented cases where sharks will swim away and die within a matter of minutes after fishermen release them. The life-and-death struggle to survive a battle with an angler far too often turns out lethal for the shark.
Because catch and release is harmful to sharks and sometimes even fatal, everything possible must be done to discourage the practice. Any angler who believes in conservation should cut the line immediately after hooking a shark to avoid stressing it. Anglers should also be doing their part to educate others about how catch and release is harmful to sharks.
Sharks are crucial for the health of the ocean. As an apex predator, their continuing eradication threatens the health of the entire marine ecosystem. Make sure you avoid shark fishing because even catch and release is harmful to sharks. If enough anglers stop fishing for them, it will give shark populations a chance to rebound.
Images via miamism, Peterpans Adventure Travel