While fishing almost 250 meters off Chesil Cove, a fisherman in Dorset accidently caught a critically endangered porbeagle shark.
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Dorset Wildlife Trust called for more protection for porbeagles as sightings of the sharks, which are not considered threatening to humans, increase.
“The fisherman was clearly not targeting the animal, given the location of the nets”.
According to Smith, this is breeding time for porbeagles as they will give birth in the spring.
Porbeagle sharks are mackerel sharks.
Since 2010, European Union has banned targeting and landing of porbeagles by commercial fishermen.
If they are accidentally caught, the law says they must be returned to the sea, unharmed if possible.
But this specimen got caught in Mr Davey’s trammel net near Chesil Cove.
“I felt a lot of weight on the net”, Davey said, thinking it was “something interesting” but was uncertain as to what the heavy weight was.
It is prohibited to intentionally fish for porbeagles, but Davey, of Portland didn’t know about its species and mentioned that it was already dead when he pulled it in. “He had been fishing since age 16 and had never witnessed anything like that so close to shore”.
Tourists got surprised when they saw Jan Davey bringing his unusual catch ashore. Fisherman_hauls_in_six_foot_shark_off_Chesil_Beach/”>Dorset Echo: “I’ve been fishing here since I was 16.
It is speculated that porbeagle sharks are getting closer to land because of food shortage caused by overfishing in the Atlantic Ocean.
Smith revealed that fishermen regularly report to them about presence of porbeagles and dolphins around the Dorset coast. All of which are susceptible to nets’. This includes Lyme Bay in Dorset, which is a hot spot for white-beaked dolphins, bottlenose dolphin, the common dolphin and the basking shark, to name just a few.
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The Wildlife Trusts are now proposing that 17 special areas around England and Wales should become protected areas for dolphins, whales and sharks to safeguard these species (some of which are in decline) against damaging activities.
