A 29-year-old surfer was nipped on the foot on Thursday off the New Smyrna Beach Jetty. It is unlikely he will require stitches--lame. While we are excited that New Smyrna has already reached a dozen bites for the year, we would much rather post photos from last weekend's Mako Mania Shark killing tournament in New Jersey.

Notice anything fishy about this photo?

Oh yeah, this isn't a Mako Shark. Why does this matter? Well, according to the Mako Mania website:

Rule # 9. This is a MAKO ONLY tournament: 66" minimum fork length. For conservation purposes, it is requested that all other sharks be tagged and released.

Nice one. It is good when fishermen respect the rules of the tournaments they "compete" in. So this begs the question: if fishermen aren't going to respect the rules of their fishing tournament, are they going to respect the fish?

Guess not.

But then again, how can we expect a fisherman to respect a fish when he clearly has no respect for himself?

Why are all these jerkoffs so fat?

Why?

--Sharky

technorati tags: Sharks, Mako Sharks, New Jersey, Gender Reassignment, Shark fishing, Mako Mania, obesity, New Smyrna Beach

[source]

It took John Vasbinder 40 years of surfing before he got Shark jammed. On June 7, he finally graduated as he was paddling out in Cocoa Beach, Florida. His bite required 45 stitches. Some have said his jammer was a Bull Shark. But it looks like he got off pretty easy for a Bull Shark.

I am predicting that this statistical upswing in Shark incidents will continue until decadent macho Shark tournaments cease in the United States. The 22nd annual Star Island Yacht Club Shark tournament happened last week in Long Island, New York. Twenty four Sharks were hauled in and hoisted aloft for the crowd of drunken spectators to gawk at and smell. The yacht club claims that the tournament is “environmentally sensitive” because they have weight limits. Big deal. Frank Mundus--the king of Shark killing himself--says that out of 12 Sharks caught and released, 10 end up dying do to hook damage to their stomachs. "Environmentally sensitive" indeed. Some of the anti-Shark tournament protesters have received death threats. Classy!

This asshole's Blue Shark murder didn't count because it was under the weight limit. Nice job, cocksucker.

Civilized people showing their support for common sense.

The three species most targeted in these tournaments, Blue Sharks, Mako Sharks, and Thresher Sharks are all threatened.

Read.

--Sharky

technorati tags: Shark fishing, Long Island, New York, Shark Bites, Cocoa Beach, Florida, Fishing Tournaments, Montauk, Frank Mundus, Blue Sharks, Thresher Sharks, Mako Sharks, Bull Sharks

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With summer comes the slew of east coast Shark fishing tournaments, with their obligatory cast of rich drunk trophy fishermen and cheering crowds of savages high on blood and Budweiser at the weigh-ins. Great. This weekend brings us the Mako Mania tournament in Ocean City Maryland. Contestants will be vying to "earn" prize money by killing threatened species. Feel free to pay a visit to Bahia Marina on 21st street in Ocean City to hassle these decadent "sportsmen."

Read this, I can't make it up:

Makos are some of the wildest fighters in the ocean. Inexperienced captains are often afraid to bring one on board because they can suddenly come back to life hours after being brought in. Many will lash the shark to the side or back of the boat, and often they will shoot it first. Makos are notorious for surviving multiple gunshots to the head.

Both the OC Shark Tournament and Mako Mania have divisions for thresher sharks, which are stunningly beautiful creatures. They have tails that are usually as long as their bodies and they use them to knock out fish before eating them. Threshers have been seen trailing boats knocking baits around before they devour them. One year, a thresher was put up on the scales and then cut open, at which point a live baby shark came tumbling out of the mother's belly.

(For the conservation-minded folks sitting in on this blog, both tournaments have highly encouraged release divisions. Very few sharks that are hooked will be brought to the scales. As far as I know, the baby shark was returned to the ocean safe-and-sound.)

Source.

Uh...Yeah...I'm sure the baby Shark is alright.

Meanwhile, while Americans are killing Sharks for sport, New Zealand's Green Party is trying valiantly to get Shark finning banned in their waters. Shark finning is not illegal in New Zealand, which is sad and strange. The next step ensuring that there will be a Shark or two left in the sea, is for a UN resolution internationally banning Shark finning.

If it bleeds, it must be profitable.

Read.

If it seems like we have been a bit slow on the posts lately, it's because we have had a bunch of shitty social obligations. *Sigh* all tomorrow's parties...


--Sharky

technorati tags: Sharks, Mako Sharks, Thresher Sharks, UN, New Zealand, Ocean City Maryland, Shark tournaments

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licensed under a Creative Commons License.