Daily reports and postings of angler-caught fish bitten into or taken whole by Atlantic sharks, known as depredation, painfully and clearly demonstrates the result of one-sided management, which has produced excessive numbers of sharks off the East, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean coasts.
The angler-hooked species taken by sharks range from sheepshead to marlin and occur with fish hooked from shore, piers, small boats, and large boats according to officials with The Billfish Foundation.
It seems to anglers there is no balance in Atlantic shark management, all titled in favor of shark conservation. Any additional shark abundance will worsen the negative impacts
to recreational fishing, the abundance of recreational-hooked species being killed by sharks, and the related businesses. The conservation of one species or a complex of species should not be allowed to cause declines in other species important to other interests.
What are your thoughts on shark management? Could Gulf waters stand more harvest of more common species like blacktip and spinners? Have you had large fish like tarpon or marlin taken by sharks?
Comment below.
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