European record six gill Shark - Discussion

We are all entitled to our own opinion... gifted with freedom to make decisions and this includes the angler and skipper...

We do this within the bounderies of laws...

Which is worst?

Catching a Bass with eggs and taking it home on a Banned season or catching this huge shark and killing it for photo opp...

I know the next question

Which is worst?

Dragging the shark until it drowns and dies or reeling in mackerels from top of a cliff while it repeatedly bounces back and forth ramming its head on the cliff before letting it die slowly on a bucket.

My opinion to this will only be as good as yours... I suggest lets all be happy that once in a while some anglers get lucky

I havent posted in a long time. I lurk most days but rarely dip in.
Today I have to as I feel strongly about killing a big fish like that.

I really thought the days of the great white hunter were gone...

For me, being responsible for the death of a creature like that far outweighs being the holder of a record.

I can't imagine what it would be like having that on my conscience.

For something to live so long, get through all the obsticles in its lifetime & die at the hands of someone to claim a 'record' is just plain wrong...

Fair play on the capture but shame on the captor for the death.

I also believe the skipper has blood on his hands from being involved. He would receive far more kudos had he made the angler release the fish.

A lot of these posts still seem like hypocrisy to me. As anglers we buy the sharpest hooks technology
can make, we then try and stick them in a fishes heads, sometimes it is swallowed and penetrates the insides,
sometimes it gets his eye or his belly. Then the fish is pulled in kicking and screaming and either
left to flap to death or returned in the hope he might survive his injuries. It seems like hypocrisy
to have a go at someone who just happened to do this to a bigger fish than the rest of us.

ok jw, fair enough, the diference being a large fish like that if released would have most certainly survived, instead it was killed, this is what annoys me, it was killed purely for bragging rights and what happens to the body. you've mentioned it was to be used for consumption, are you sure of this? and how much will be waisted? this fish's life was in vain. i am not jealous of this angler or of his achievment i would consider myself a times millions better.

No offense john but thats like comparing a bloke shooting the odd pigeon or rabbit with someone who goes and pots himself a rhino.

Lovely fish and a fantastic achievement so congratulations to the captor, just a pity that everyone is jumping down the guys throat for keeping it, personally I would have had to think long and hard about claiming for the record, I'll prob never be in that position but if I was I would be doing my damnest to keep the fish alive for weighing ashore but for something this big that isn't a realistic possibility, it's down to personal choice/opinion specimen/record hunting isn't everyone's cup of tea
How long do six gilled sharks live for ?
At what age do they stop breeding ?
Going by the size of this fish it may well have been beyond breeding age and near the end of its life, who knows ?
If it was a record mackerel,doggie, whiting etc. would anyone have batted an eyelid at his claim for record ?

Mod edit

Let's try for a bit of honesty here lads, the guy was fishing with a skate trace on so he was looking for something about 5 or 6 times less weight. He has the skills to overcome this significant obstacle and subdue the fish, he obviously makes the decision to claim what he probably knows is a European record. This involves killing the fish as it has to be weighed on land. So where is the major crime? If I catch and despatch a 5lb doggie or mackeral tomorrow and tell you all about it will we honestly have the same reaction? I think not.
I personally will never kill a fish to get a piece of paper which tells me what I already know but that is my personal choice I would never condemn anyone for claiming their record if that is what they want.
Grow up lads fish get killed in the making of our days enjoyment and I for one enjoy eating them.

Yappo

i have no problem with fish been taken and no being wasted but killing them and then troughing them away is almost as bad as the trawlers

this is the biggest fish i have seen in our seas , such a magnificant creature and im not giving out or ranting about captor or skipper but it was such a shame to kill it , does anyone know if it was male or female ??

i took this piece from thr FLORIDA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY ,

·Size, Age, and Growth
The maximum reported size for this species is a 15.8 feet (4.8 m) total length male individual. The maximum published weight is 1,300 pounds (590 kg). The average length of the bluntnose sixgill shark is approximately 16 feet (4.8 m). Males reach maturity at lengths of 10 feet (3 m) and 440 pounds (200 kg) while females mature at 13 feet (4 m) in length and 880 pounds (400 kg) in weight. Although age determination is difficult, it is suggested that the corresponding age when males reach maturity is 11-14 years and 18-35 years for females. Longevity for this species is thought to be 80 years.

TBH am i missing something here.. a new record was set, its a great achievement to set a record of this scale.. if everybody was all about C&R there would be no records of such fish, therefore no research available about the size fish can grow to and exceed..
Now we know such a fish can grow and exceed such size which can be put forward to institutes to further research about the habitat and growth of such species, not only 6gill but other species that have had astonishing catches made by fellow anglers..

its people like us that sets the barr and lets others know about things like these.. even from a different side of things the tourism trade may even benefit a small bit from such a catch as people may want to not even break the record but the thrill of even attempting to catch a fish of this magnitude..

the benefits just may outweigh the cost of one fish if you look from a different angle. i know myself thats its a shame for a fish to die to be claimed as a record, but on the upside.. alot more will be known about the fish because of it...

just my opinion..
S...

Yes it was an incredible fish, yes it was an incredible job landing it on the tackle, well done that man.
the next bit is the problem, was he justified in killing the fish , in order to bring it ashore to claim a potential record ?
Unfortunately it's a personal descision, based on that persons values and respect and integrity, and each one of us can only say what we would have done.
I don't agree with what the person did, I don't think there was any need or reason to kill this shark, and by doing it he has given ammunition to the likes of p@t@ and other anti angling bodies.
indeed I don't believe that anyone should kill a fish unless it is for their own consumption, but that is my personal opinion .
If I was ever lucky enough to catch a record fish of an inedible species, and i couldn't weigh and return it safely then I would not even think about claiming it, I would take a pic and return it.
A few of us recently had a discussion about what would you do if you caught a 20lb bass in a boat, and there was no way to keep it alive to get it weighed for a new record, would you kill it or return it.
it was very interesting hearing peoples opinions, and as I said earlier it's a personal descision based on that persons values and respect and integrity, and no one on here can say wether it's wrong or right.
Dave

[bhoy32]

if the fish was sold for human consumption then no there was absolutly no harm done circle of life dog eat dog and all that is drowning a fish more humane than smashing a fishes head repeatedly on the quay until it stops kicking its tail or is a fish priest a humane way to end its life how many people feel guilty about the slaughter houses so they can have meat everybody has a right to go out and kill such a fish if they choose the law does not forbid it is it humane to go out and throw a double figure hook into a rock pool and take fish no lnger than a cigarette out of the water to picture it for a species hunt anybody who picks up a fishing rod is undoubtably doing something inhumane and cruel in somebody elses eyes we are all guilty even the outspoken c&r brigade are guilty lets not forget that 1 fish was killed maybe there will never be another fish that size caught but there is plenty more fish in sea no species was wiped out no eco system destroyed so congrats to all involved

Last edited by bhoy32 on Thu Jun 18, 2009 9:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Bhoy, im not seeing anyone being treated with hatred and contempt. There is an exchange of views that for the most part has been well conducted.

woops

Has anyone asked the skipper what his thoughts on it were as a matter of interest?

On one hand it would do wonders for his reputation etc.. but could it be viewed in a negative light over the supposed manner of the kill?

Whether it was right or wrong is not for anyone to say, the guy made his decision respect him for that, lets lobby the Records Commitee and get the stupid "on land" rule changed for species that it can't be done with!!

Whether it was right or wrong is not for anyone to say, the guy made his decision respect him for that, lets lobby the Records Commitee and get the stupid "on land" rule changed for species that it can't be done with!!

The bottom line is that fish can't beweighed accurately on a boat. To be fair, in the latest report they state

Also on the topic of
conservation, the Committee is further investigating the possibility of adopting length as the key criterion for
establishing specimens for certain marine species. This would relieve charter angling boat skippers of the need
to return to shore for weighing of specimens which is necessary as on-board weighing is totally inaccurate.
Information on blue shark and tope length-weight relationships are currently being collated to review the
possibilities regarding the use of length. There are several potential difficulties associated with this approach –
males and females in many species grow at different rates and the problem of measuring length of large fish
accurately. If these investigations prove satisfactory

My own view is that length or length/width measure should be the criteria for a specimen.

That would be a positive step alright, what would be even better would be no records for fish of certain types. Another ideal scenario would be, If you catch and release one of signifigance a cert to say you done so would look better on any mantlepiece if you ask me!!

Lets reward the survival of the fish instead of a short lived reward for it's death!!!

Nice post Dave.....

It has been very interesting to hear so many different opinions from such a diversity of Anglers, which to be honest all participate in a hunting based sport.

I fish a bit in S.A. and the fisheries research body have published a table of length x Girth that gives a reasonably accurate weight calculation for sharks. I would love to see something like this implemented in Ireland, especially for Tope as there are not many places where you can get to shore quickly enough for weighting.

As for your 20lb Bass..... Nice question I'm not sure yet..........

good discussion about for and against killing the shark but if most anglers were in the Germans shoes they would probably do the same as he did,who wouldn't want to hold a European record for a shark even some of the catch and release brigade will have to admit to that

how many times do you hear of a shark killed on a charter boat,you never hear about all that they catch and release,over 19,000 blue shark have been caught and tagged and released so far by Irish charter boat

the Irish Specimen Fish Committee should change the way the rules are.
with all the modern technology there should be better ways of weighing fish or getting the weight from length and girth and from photos

a lot are talking about the skipper but you cant blame him he was just doing his job,his job is taking people out to find fish which he did well,its the man that pays the money that decides what to do with the fish the skipper can give his advice and his opinion but at the end of the day its the anglers choice

one fish will probably bring a lot of people to Ireland,any one that looks to see where the best shark fishing in Europe is will be heading to Clare

it was the anglers decision what he did with the shark,i wont criticize him,it was his choice like any other angler has a choice to do what he decides with what he catches