European record six gill Shark - Discussion

Fantastic catch till you see it upside down and dead as a dodo Would have been much better measured and left swim off to fight another day. Reports like this may only serve to paint anglers in a bad light by those only looking for such oppurtunities............My 2 cents worth

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

how very true.
this man may have released more fish in his 70 years of living than any of us will ever return!
maybe this time he knew he had the one he wanted for years and went with it and was awarded the title of biggest/deadest whatever, good for him, nice catch and keep,
the next 100/500 six gill sharks hooked may all go back now cos the record is so high and hard to reach,,
angling as said above is not a threat to fish stocks.
this is one fish!
i reckon this year i have kept and dined on about 10/15 fish, returning about 100/200 maybe...

I don't think sustainability of the species & C&R of other species are relevant.

The fact is, its sad to see such a magnificant fish dead... It didn't need to happen.
Surely nobody can disagree with that?

The issue that it was his 'right' to kill the fish is not relelvant, he shouldn't have & shouldn't be supported for doing so. Holding a record is such a notional thing, if holding a record means the death of something magnificant is that Ok?
Not for me. Is it not enough for people to *know* they beat the record without having to prove it for some silly rules?

Surely a system where the biggest & best of the species are killed & the person responsible is rewarded is fundamentally flawed?

The old photos of dead sharks on quaysides with somebody beside them sticking up their thumbs seem so out of place these days. Yet here is a similar one & people are supposed to celebrate it.

In this day & age of dwindling stocks of fish, climate change & conservation people just need to have a bit more cop on than this. You have to respect your catch.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news ... 79397.html

Says the skipper had a similar shark of this size before but it was released and people on this site have confirmed this, I would imagine it was the angler that pushed to have the shark towed. I don't think its about fish stocks or the shark being endangered I just think it's sad to kill such a magnificent creature.

I think the specimen rules and species protection rules need to be looked at.

Extract from -

http://www.irish-trophy-fish.com/notices/conservation.htm

CONSERVATION SPECIMENS

The Committee will examine the issue of “Conservation Specimens” over the next two years. It is envisaged that this specimen category would be based on fish length.

Two species, Tope and Blue Shark, will be considered for this type of alternative specimen award. It is planned to examine the feasibility of using length measurements to establish a conservation specimen which will allow anglers to return fish to the water quickly without the current requirement to weigh on land.

Many aspects of this proposed system including certification of measuring instruments, the types of measurement(s) required, threshold lengths etc remain to be discussed and the Committee would welcome written inputs from anglers and all interested parties.

Perhaps Six Gilled Shark should be included in this.

Note

the Committee would welcome written inputs from anglers and all interested parties.

this has nothing to do with conservation, some lads have raised the record dogfish, mackerel etc...
would that be ok?................... well no, unless you can come up with a meaningfull reason for killing it, it goes for any fish. a bit of paper which is totally irrelevent these days is not one of them. can anyone here actually honestly tell the names of anglers and weights of 3 or more record fish? when a group young lads catch a few dogfish off dunlaoghaire pier and decide to throw them at trains later on is that ok, their not threatned on any lists, its only a few fish, the trawlers do more damage, ITS STILL NOT OK! if your going to eat your record catch fine claim it, at least the fish had a reason to die. something tells me this fish will end up thrown over the quay side when no decides to try six gilled shark meat, a sad end to such a magnificent fish!

personally when you blank as much as i do to even dream of a fish like that scares the crap out of me

i would be delighted to get even near it

to actually hook one and bring it in would be an amazing achievement - could you not just be happy with that!!!!!!!!!!!!

why go and kill it for the record - surely you should be happy in yourself that you got it
why do you need to prove it to others etc.

my initial reaction was very bad to see that picture - but i suppose at least this shark appears not as threatened as other species - and as said before - not like the 90 million sharks slaughtered commercially

a bit of paper which is totally irrelevent these days is not one of them.

Some good points there Eric, but I'll just comment on the one above as it interests me. I think the rest of it has done a few circles now. It may be irrelevent to yourself at the moment, but many anglers are facinated by catching that one big fish, myself included. At the moment your focus is on match angling. Perhaps there may come a time when you decide to turn your focus towards that one elusive bigger fish. When it does, maybe that peice of paper might not be so irrelevent.....

For me, I will do what I can to try return any specimen I catch, especially shark and skate species, but sometime this isn't always possible.

Kev

well done to that man but it it is a disgrace takeing the fish ashore it should have being photoed and then released it might be a record but a fine animal like that should be taged and sented on it way just my opinion 4 what it worth

Hi Guys,

One post deleted, and some tidy up just done. Please keep you replies on topic and for Pete's sake (not you Davis) please keep the insults off site.

Thanks

a bit of paper which is totally irrelevent these days is not one of them.

Some good points there Eric, but I'll just comment on the one above as it interests me. I think the rest of it has done a few circles now. It may be irrelevent to yourself at the moment, but many anglers are facinated by catching that one big fish, myself included. At the moment your focus is on match angling. Perhaps there may come a time when you decide to turn your focus towards that one elusive bigger fish. When it does, maybe that peice of paper might not be so irrelevent.....

For me, I will do what I can to try return any specimen I catch, especially shark and skate species, but sometime this isn't always possible.

Kev

i may enjoy match angling mac, but my focus is fishing, match angling, for the most part, gives the average session on the east coast some purpose. theres not much fun in catching three 20cm whiting and a 21cm dab on a pleasure session. i have caught a good few specimen fish through my life, smoothies, dabs, tope, huss, grey gurnard to name a few. i never once thought about claiming them, most have been off the boat, if i wanted to i would have had to have killed them, a 40lb tope doesnt do so well in a live well. that just didnt sit well with me. i wanst going to eat wrasse, tope, smoothies etc.... i was happy to see them swim off. truth be known my dad did scoff the dab. each to their own, some people dont get match angling and prefare to hunt biggies, they should be happy when one pops along, it doesnt happen often, first instinct shouldnt be to kill it for the form

been watching this for ages, and decided to say what i think,
personally i cant say what it is about fishing that i love so much, for me its not about forms or its not about matches, but i wouldnt begrudge the guy who catch,s fish to claim there specimens or in this case a european record, (well done to the guy)
just the same i dont begrudge the out and out match anglers who catch an awful lot of small fish to win a comp,
angling is always going to be seen as a cruel or even blood sport to some people,
but if us anglers dont stick together, who knows we could see our sport totally diminish, like fox hunting in england, which has been a sport just as long as angling as far i know,

ok the pic doesnt look good but in fairness he couldn exactly lift the fish for the photo,,,
you only have to look at the sea angling mags we all read to see pics of dead fish in peoples hands,

just my opinion on this,

i do not object to the actions of the skipper or angler, in an ideal situation it would have been nice to see the fish returned, i wish all the skippers around loop head best of luck with a potential increase in their business due to the publicity this fish has brought,

my highest regard to Luke Aston, well done

mick barry

i do not object to the actions of the skipper or angler, in an ideal situation it would have been nice to see the fish returned, i wish all the skippers around loop head best of luck with a potential increase in their business due to the publicity this fish has brought,

my highest regard to Luke Aston, well done

mick barry

Well respected skipper and obviously knows his stuff and it may boost his business Dont use charters myself but wouldnt use him if I had to now due to the killing of this fine creature. I also wasn't surprised to find that the angler in question was not Irish In this day and age of dwindling stocks its time we looked after our fish especially the best of them. There are, like previously stated, groups like those who opposed fox hunting in the UK,just waiting for oppurtunities like this to paint us in a bad light I know the best sight I see when shark fishing is the shark swimming off to fight another day and not one drowning slowly while being towed behind a boat.......................Mr Aston should look into a shotgun licence if he is going to persist in killing sharks(albeit at customers requests,and no offence intended to the skipper) and at least put them out of their misery as humanely as possible............

In this day and age of dwindling stocks its time we looked after our fish especially the best of them.

1000lbs shark, how many other fish will get to swim another day, i doubt it that the shark went to weight watchers or was worried about consuming copious amounts of fish, its only one fish out of a very big ocean

mick

i do not object to the actions of the skipper or angler, in an ideal situation it would have been nice to see the fish returned, i wish all the skippers around loop head best of luck with a potential increase in their business due to the publicity this fish has brought,

my highest regard to Luke Aston, well done

mick barry

Well respected skipper and obviously knows his stuff and it may boost his business Dont use charters myself but wouldnt use him if I had to now due to the killing of this fine creature. I also wasn't surprised to find that the angler in question was not Irish In this day and age of dwindling stocks its time we looked after our fish especially the best of them. There are, like previously stated, groups like those who opposed fox hunting in the UK,just waiting for oppurtunities like this to paint us in a bad light I know the best sight I see when shark fishing is the shark swimming off to fight another day and not one drowning slowly while being towed behind a boat.......................Mr Aston should look into a shotgun licence if he is going to persist in killing sharks(albeit at customers requests,and no offence intended to the skipper) and at least put them out of their misery as humanely as possible............

in fairness you cant blame the skipper, its the anglers choice at the end of the day, they are a paying customer, its not against the law. so what can luke like do?

In this day and age of dwindling stocks its time we looked after our fish especially the best of them.

1000lbs shark, how many other fish will get to swim another day, i doubt it that the shark went to weight watchers or was worried about consuming copious amounts of fish, its only one fish out of a very big ocean

mick

If we all had the "one fish out of a very big ocean" attitude we would find ourselves in a very crappy situation with multiple species on the endangered list....................Oh wait we are already in that place Again no offence to the skipper....it was the anglers decision.........I just, personally,wont use a skipper who kills such fish whether it be here or on foreign waters.

As someone who's partial to taking the occasional bass for my dinner (don't go mad anyone, I generally take about 3 fish on a 2 week trip, and always within the regulations) I'd be loathe to criticise anyone for deciding to kill their particular quarry, especially when it undoubtedly is 'the fish of a lifetime'. Also, everything i know about fish stocks would support JW's entirely logical view that the predation caused on fish stocks by rod and line is negligible.
So I concede that my position on this is one based on gut reaction and emotion, rather than logic, and it's that I just don't like to see a creature as absolutely magnificent as that killed. I'd feel the same about a tope, a blue shark, or even a very big bass. I think its simple, size matters, we tend to invest larger creatures, that we assume are more developed, with human qualities, whether they actually have them or not.
But then again, the combination of that cert people talk about, and the tastiness of the fish in question, might well lead me to overcome my scruples in the case of the bass, so congratulations to Luke and the angler who caught the 6-gill, it really is an amazing catch.
And tho there might not be a whole load of logic to this either, I think most people also react against large scale waste, so I hope it's eaten and enjoyed, rather than dumped in the corner of some harbour to rot away.

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/colum ... 91467.html

Even Ian O'Doherty is commenting on this now...

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/ian-odoherty/killing-a-majestic-shark-just-for-the-egomassage-is-plain-wrong-1791467.html

Even Ian O'Doherty is commenting on this now...

He doesn't believe in not speaking his mind, does he?

Anyone who kills something as beautiful as a shark simply for the ego massage is, frankly, a bit of a b*****d.