Sharkfishing tournament. A silver lining?

They just posted the results of the 2014 Ocean City Shark tournament here

The bad news, they killed 15 sharks, 7 blue-, 6 mako- and 2 thresher-sharks.

The good news, they released 107 sharks. The prize money for the release division was slightly higher than that of the weigh in (kill) division.

releasing a shark

I don't like shark tournaments, I love the sharks and want to protect them and not have them killed by fishermen. Many conservationists feel the same way I do and are working to get these kinds of tournaments eliminated.

Instead of demonizing the fishermen and questioning their character, like a lot of others do, I want to acknowledge that the organizers are making an effort to lessen the impact those tournaments have on the shark populations. It has always been Shark Diver's position to try to work with fishermen, to educate them about the problems associated with shark fishing and get them to at least, practice catch and release, if not stop fishing for sharks altogether. That was how the shark free marina initiative got started.

Cheers,
Martin Graf
CEO Shark Diver

About Shark Diver . As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives,
Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdiver.com.