A great white shark was found dead Sunday near San Diego with wounds caused by fishing gear, and experts suspect that anglers are illegally targeting the species.
The carcass of an 8-foot juvenile white shark was discovered at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve and Beach, between Del Mar and La Jolla, and temporarily placed on display.
“She had succumbed to injuries sustained from fishing activities,” the reserve stated on Facebook. “Great whites are protected and must be safely released if accidentally caught. We took the opportunity to turn this unfortunate event into an educational opportunity for our visitors.”
Juvenile white sharks feed on stingrays and other bottom fishes off Southern California and some areas become aggregation sites. These sites vary over time and Torrey Pines is presently one of them.
The shark found Sunday was tagged Aug. 12 by a crew from the Shark Lab at California State University Long Beach. It had regularly been detected between Del Mar and Black’s Beach – directly off Torrey Pines.
Discarded fishing gear, including large hooks designed for big-game fishing, was found near the stranding site.
Chris Lowe, director of the Shark Lab, told FTW Outdoors that nearly 40% of Torrey Pines white sharks are trailing fishing gear. “So there will be more problems,” Lowe predicted.
Targeting white sharks is illegal, but enforcing the law is difficult because anglers can simply claim to be fishing for other species. Possessing white sharks also is against the law; white sharks that become hooked must be set free instantly upon identification.
“These fishers are pretty brazen and don’t think they’re doing any harm, but when you see the size of the tackle and how many are breaking off with 100 feet of line and lead trailing, you can understand why these sharks die from these interactions,” Lowe said.
“They aren’t fishing for bat rays with this heavy duty terminal tackle and baits – it sure looks like they are targeting these white sharks, which is illegal.”
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife performed a necropsy on the shark Monday but results have yet to be revealed.
Said Lowe: “There was clear indication of jaw hooking and tearing through the jaw.”
–Generic image showing a juvenile white shark is courtesy of Pete Thomas
