WATCH: Great White Shark Illegally Caught Off Pier
A YouTube video has an angler in trouble with the law as it documents the taking of a protected great white shark. Anglers are responsible to know the law or suffer the consequences.
A YouTube video posted by someone with the username Ograza 13 may come back to bite him in the posterior. On Tuesday, Ograza 13 posted a video of someone catching a great white shark on the Huntington Beach Pier. (To see the video of the shark being hauled in, go to the video in the image carousel).
The shark was gaffed with a three pronged rope gaff, hauled up and slammed down on the pier. Bleeding and with its teeth chomping, it was dragged around the pier gasping for air.
Great white sharks have been protected in California waters since 1994. Unlawful take and possession of these creatures is a misdemeanor that can bring heavy fines and jail time.
Capt. Dan Sforza from the state Department of Fish and Game told Pete Thomas Outdoors that the evidence is mounting. “We have the shark and we've identified who caught the shark," "We are investigating and nobody is going to get away with anything,” he said. Sforza would not release the name of the angler who caught the shark.
As the shark was being caught, there were a lot of surfers nearby. The reality is that statistically, they were in very little danger. Juvenile white sharks feed mostly on halibut, rays, smaller sharks as well as smaller fish. When they reach about 10-feet, they migrate offshore and begin to feed on sea lions and other pinnipeds.
This is not the first time that a YouTube video has been used as evidence against a Fish and Game violation. Jon Apothaker caught a protected black seabass on January 3 of this year on the Balboa Pier. Several bystanders posted his catch on YouTube and he ended up in getting 120 hours of community service.
The most common defense in these kinds of cases is that the angler didn’t know that the fish in question was protected. Ignorance of the law is a very poor defense as it is every angler’s responsibility to know what he can and cannot keep from our precious seas.
Anyone with information about the incident is encouraged to call Fish and Game at 1 888 DFG-CALTIP (888 334 -2258).
(Video does contain profanity and a bloody shark).
Nancy Wride
6:03 pm on Wednesday, August 24, 2011
I could only watch half of it and the shark was still in the water. Most surprising: how blue the water looked.
Angel Garcia
10:21 pm on Wednesday, August 24, 2011
That was horrible to watch. However, if they are going to allow fishing off any pier I think they should have signs posted in multiple areas showing protected fish that you must throw back.
beergut
11:05 pm on Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Exactly what I was thinking, they do signs warning what fish not to eat. I am not fisherman although, I did not know the great white sharks were protected species.
Guillermo Arzate
12:46 am on Thursday, August 25, 2011
Did you guys see this story? it's related some what. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/23/alice-newstead-performance-artist-hooks-shark-fin-protest_n_934680.html#s337481&title=Alice_Newsteads_Shark
Guillermo Arzate
12:53 am on Thursday, August 25, 2011
I think catching shark just to take their fins is why laws like these are around. From the video I think these dumb kids really where that dumb not to know it was illegal or they would have probably let it go.
Nancy Wride
1:23 am on Thursday, August 25, 2011
Good link. And I agree they probably didn't know better.
Dan Krolczyk
7:24 am on Thursday, August 25, 2011
If you're smart enough to go buy a fishing license (and what looks like a fair amount of fishing poles, lines, and industrial grappling hooks), and fish from a public funded pier, you should know what's legal to catch. Catch and release could have been a smarter option than dragging it across the pier.
Vernon Fix
8:05 am on Thursday, August 25, 2011
Why is there a law protecting the Great White? Because it is California and some idiot snuck it on the books. Would it be poetic justice if the ones who made the law were attacked by sharks?
Panglonymous
9:25 am on Thursday, August 25, 2011
All the more if it was upheld by an activist justice/poet and *he* got chomped. Butts of guys like that are so flabby the fish'd probly spit it out.
tinytom
9:07 am on Thursday, August 25, 2011
Dragging it across the pier while it's suffering is barbaric.
Julie
9:35 am on Thursday, August 25, 2011
I hope they catch the guys that did this and prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. They made this inocent animal suffer and die and they should have to pay the entire fine and do jail time. These creatures are on the endangered species list and if you can get a fishing liscense you should know the laws.
Erik Dreyer-Goldman
9:51 am on Thursday, August 25, 2011
That was awful. They need to prosecute those kids.
lame
6:11 pm on Thursday, August 25, 2011
I hope the consequences they deserve come to them. Killing a great white shark is against the law! If you fish you MUST to have a license! If you have a fishing license you should now what is legal and ILLEGAL to catch and kill!
"They didn't know better" is NOT an acceptable excuse, especially for an avid fisherman. Plus dragging it along the pier is cruel.
rachelle
7:18 pm on Thursday, August 25, 2011
This is f&cked up and gross. They know what they are doing is wrong and the fact is they don't care. Hit their pocket books with a fine, a mark on their police report and also police the pier more often to be sure this doesn't happen. Not only are they protected and it's down right wrong it's an inhuman way they are doing it and they need to be stopped. I reckon stop fishing off the pier all together. And they wonder why the sharks are attacking people, they are pissed off and rightly so. I hope these d&cks get caught and slapped hard with fines and time.
tinytim
8:08 pm on Thursday, August 25, 2011
Can we not say it like it is. These people require recognition and take it where they can get it, by for instance ruling it over something lesser than themselves. It's a universal thing and demands a universal solution. Well, maybe if our current crisis goes deep, we can get real change.
Panglonymous
8:54 pm on Thursday, August 25, 2011
Make 'em listen to mariachi on eleven (until stunned) then gaff 'em.
Nancy Wride
12:00 am on Saturday, August 27, 2011
Just saw this Pan, and assume you mean with the amp on to 11?
Panglonymous
9:29 am on Saturday, August 27, 2011
Hi, Nancy. Eleven is an enhanced interrogation technique, perfectly legal.
Gaffing often yields vital intelligence data when applied to high value detainees.
This fish had a wife and two young children. Sisters, brothers, loving folks. We must not let them down.
tonytom
9:07 pm on Thursday, August 25, 2011
it's auto pilot now.
maxxsurf
8:39 am on Friday, August 26, 2011
As a California native and an avid fisherman, I am well aware of the licensing laws regarding the take of legal fish. There is a section in the license application form that states that it is the fisherman's responsibility to keep up with the constantly changing laws regarding legal / illegal takes as well as minimum size limits on legal fish. This information is available for FREE at the licensing site or online. On any given day at any pier or beach in California you will find these idiots that are ignorant of the laws and constantly take illegal and undersize fish (as well as divers taking undersize lobster. That Great White was not only illegal, but a baby that was probably less than 6 months old. Sad, truly sad. I hope these morons get prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
nela
3:41 pm on Saturday, September 10, 2011
please watch You Tube Video;
Mako or Great White Shark HOOKED Huntington Beach / Part II
Why are people in such a hurry to judge someone ? Even the Fish and Game thought it was a Mako? Have a nice day Sir.
A Loving Mom
J J
10:46 am on Friday, August 26, 2011
No fishing license is required while fishing off a public fishing pier in Cailf. They need to post signs for fishing regulations on these piers.
Jessica Foreman
11:36 pm on Tuesday, August 30, 2011
To all my CA beach goers: please don't stand for this. If you see something like this happening, say something to stop it. The life guard tower is on the pier, someone could have gotten the tower to put a call to the police or had them stop it themselves...obviously a snapping shark on the pier is a public safety issue-to say the least, & even a life guard would have done something to stop it. You have a voice & a responsibilty to use it.
Mr Salty
8:05 am on Wednesday, August 31, 2011
This is what happens when ignorance meets machismo.
DFG needs to start requiring a license for pier fishing.
Hope thse knuckleheads are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law but that will likely be a slap on the wrist.
BTW, the state just passed the anti shark finning bill, AB 376 so that's some good news for our toothy friends.