Still looking for stories of Great Whites being fished

[jaypee]

Hi everyone, just reposting a thread that I had up before this site changed some things around and the previous forum got deleted.

I'm stilling trying to find out about recent cases of White Sharks still being fished off the piers in California, or elsewhere there, such as the rumours and cases I've heard about these sharks being landed on the beaches in Cali or being washed up with foul play suspected. So I hope it's ok to repost this thread to still enquire about this?

I'm also looking for info about Whites being fished from the beaches or even on boats. Basically that there may be White Shark poachers in Cali that are deliberately targeting them, or if they are catching them accidentally, they don't release them until as late as possible, which could result in their mortality after.

I'm making a documentary on Great Whites which comes from a conservation angle as I'm trying to find out cases of Whites still being killed by humans despite being protected, as I hope this will help further their safety if we know more stories of how they still get killed and how to stop this.

I hope you guys still can help me with this and tell me what stories they may have heard about or read, or tell me where to look for these cases. There was one poster in my previous thread that told me that there is one forum online dedicated to people who deliberately target White Sharks specifically and I did ask what this forum name was, but then pierfishing.com became unaccessible then came back as it is now, so I couldn't get my question answered, so I wonder if anyone can help with that specific question here too?

If anyone can help with my thread enquiries, do please let me know, you can PM me or post here, whatever is comfortable for you. Many thanks for anything you can help me with, it means a lot to me to find such hard to discover evidence so I am very appreciative of all this.

 

[Ken Jones]

I do not think you'll find many people who target great whites but I am pretty sure you'll find a few. They're knuckleheads and one, I am also pretty sure, is the same person who targets giant (black) sea bass at Catalina (see the article on the Cabrillo Mole). As for an Internet site on catching great whites , I've never seen it but if there is such a site I would think it could easily be found.

Twenty years ago a great white sighting at a pier was rare, today it's faily common at many piers between San Diego and Santa Cruz and for some piers, i.e., Manhattan Beach, it's a regular occurrence. I imagine that most that are hooked are by mistake but, as said, some people flout the law and target them. We preach ethical angling but preaching it and getting the choir to agree are often two very different things.

 

[EgoNonBaptizo]

This forum has a disproportionately large number of sharkers: http://prehistoricsoul.com/forum/index.php
There are a couple reports of whites, but nothing directly citing deliberate targeting.

 

[Gary]

You are coming to a fishing forum asking explicitly and only for negative stories and information about fishermen. Let the DFW do their job. It's literally their job.

 

[Red Fish]

Okay, I found some interest in your request the first go around, but I think that was a sufficient search of this particular website for information of great white shark poaching. ENB’s website, that he posted previously, appears to be your best source of information.
Honestly, as a former media professional, you need to get out and do your “leg work.”
Specifically, get your pen and paper (computer) and head on out to the piers and beaches and witness it for yourself and report on it.

 

[packyourtrash]

I agree with the above;

Stop being lazy.

 

[jaypee]

Thank you for all your replies and especially for putting me in the direction of that website.

I live in London and I recently visited some California beaches and piers asking around about these fishing cases. It's not easy when I don't live in LA etc. I'm doing what I can, including posting here too, trying to cover all bases and also to speak to people with 'on the ground' insight into this subject matter. So I apologise for appearing lazy, I'm trying not to be.

Yes I do know that 99% of fishermen are ethical and good people. I'm just chasing up some stories I've been told of a small minority of fishermen who apparently target White Sharks, whereas other people catch them by accident.

I don't know if this is a particularly large problem or a threat to White's population in California, but it's an enquiry I'm looking into.

I appreciate all your answers and anything anyone has to say. It's a difficult thing to ask about and investigate.

 

[Ken Jones]

As said, I do imagine a few people target them but I do not think (and I could be wrong) that too many are caught. The numbers of sightings at the piers seem to have skyrocketed these past few years which would lead me to believe their overall numbers have also increased.The person you might contact is Chris Lowe at Long Beach State University who seems to be one of the main experts on the shark populations in SoCal. I've talked to him and he usually has a pretty good idea of what's going on.

 

[Gary]

You live in London and you're worried about the GW pop in CA.... You might be better served by turning your energy to any number of serious issues in your own back yard. Plus, are you even a fisherman? If so welcome and please do share (which you have not done). It's time for you to answer some questions and stop hitting-up kind strangers. Something about this stinks...and not in the pier fishing way.