Young Black Tip Reef Shark Killed by Arrogant, Ignorant foreign spear fisherman.

[Showbags]

^ Do you swat mosquitoes ?

[robertthebruce]

^ Do you swat mosquitoes ?

Nope for some reason they dont go near me, i never kill anything, unless i have to...

even a 'Snake'' .. i wont kill...

we all deserve to live, whatever creature we are...

[Shot]

^ Do you swat mosquitoes ?

Nope for some reason they dont go near me, i never kill anything, unless i have to...

even a 'Snake'' .. i wont kill...

we all deserve to live, whatever creature we are...

crotch crickets?

[Bindholt]

Good of you to post this. Better with the name of the clown. Sure enough many more sharks are killed by commercial fishermen, but killing one of the few living around Kata is extremely stupid. What a huge bonus would it be if Kata could have its own population of blacktips to be enjoyed by thousands of snorkelers. Blacktips are highly territorial and don´t travel much, so it is easy to wipe out a local population. Let´s put an end to this kind of loser behaviour.

[Showbags]

^^^... head lice, fleas on your dog...ticks....never put out ant rid, never a rat trap...sprayed a cockroach, fly, ...termites ...you would let termites eat your house ?.....you buy veges right ? what about the spray put on veges to kill the pests ? ...eggs...never eat an egg ?......

Edited March 14, 2014 by Showbags

[Dibbler]

He may have broken the law catching this particular species, or by using an illegal method, and it's worth reporting the incident to the local Fisheries Office, especially as you have photos. The identity of the fishermen may not be clear although his wetsuit is distinctive so he might be picked up somewhere else if he goes fishing again. If not then I am sure a visit to the Phuket Marine Biological Laboratory to share the photo of the catch of this rare animal with the scientists there might be useful. At least the record may be useful for their research. It appears there were lots of people standing around looking. Did no-one think to question what he was doing or call the tourist police?

[NomadJoe]

He may have broken the law catching this particular species, or by using an illegal method, and it's worth reporting the incident to the local Fisheries Office, especially as you have photos. The identity of the fishermen may not be clear although his wetsuit is distinctive so he might be picked up somewhere else if he goes fishing again. If not then I am sure a visit to the Phuket Marine Biological Laboratory to share the photo of the catch of this rare animal with the scientists there might be useful. At least the record may be useful for their research. It appears there were lots of people standing around looking. Did no-one think to question what he was doing or call the tourist police?

I am fairly well versed on the protected areas, protected species, legal and illegal technics in Phuket. Sad to say but as long as the shark was caught for food, there does not seem to be anything illegal about this, not yet anyway. Some things are in the works to perhaps change that. Unless he is selling it, then technically he could be done on labor violation. The photos and what we know has already been passed on to the PMBC and DMCR. WWF (World wildlife foundation) has shared it with the Thai media and I have already had Thai reporters calling me. I write a marine environment column for The Phuket News and I am doing a story on it there unless my editor doesn't jump on it before me. The editor of the Gazette is also doing a story on it, so this will be in the media big time shortly.

[nedkellylives]

Pretty soon all the dive businesses wil be able to show tourists is dead coral

Plenty of it around already and a lot of the damage caused by dive boats

[stevenl]

Pretty soon all the dive businesses wil be able to show tourists is dead coral

Plenty of it around already and a lot of the damage caused by dive boats

When was the last time you were out diving on a diveboat?

[monkey4u]

A couple of years ago in Phangna bay 2 fishing boats were dragging a 500 metre

net between them across the sea floor which nets everything and they die even if not eaten

Every type of fish is overfished here, crabs are caught and sold with spawn on them

Shark huggers should dive in the north west of Australia, no shortage of sharks to hug their

Yep and they will hug you back / bite you

[robertthebruce]

^ Do you swat mosquitoes ?

Nope for some reason they dont go near me, i never kill anything, unless i have to...

even a 'Snake'' .. i wont kill...

we all deserve to live, whatever creature we are...

crotch crickets?

Crotch Crickets ??? sorry to dissapoint again but i dont go to ''Patong'' either... I'm a good Catholic Boy........

[robertthebruce]

^^^... head lice, fleas on your dog...ticks....never put out ant rid, never a rat trap...sprayed a cockroach, fly, ...termites ...you would let termites eat your house ?.....you buy veges right ? what about the spray put on veges to kill the pests ? ...eggs...never eat an egg ?......

Ah.. this is for me, OK... let me think, Yes i do eat ''Eggs'' ... , OK, you've won, i am defeated, i will retreat to my Cave...

And wont surface until the New Year... now give me a break, i do try in my own little way....

[nedkellylives]

Pretty soon all the dive businesses wil be able to show tourists is dead coral

Plenty of it around already and a lot of the damage caused by dive boats

When was the last time you were out diving on a diveboat?

No first class diving here like Australia and other world first class diving destinations

Great barrier reef on the east coast and Ningaloo reef on the west coast still plenty of Turtles, whale sharks and black tips

and all other species on the west coast,also the remains of dead dutchmen at the abrolis islands another prestine area of coral reefs

So why bother, i am not interested in supporting the local diving industry, seen the best and its not here

Edited March 14, 2014 by nedkellylives

[ronaldo0]

Probably killed it to sell in his restaurant rather than buying one! Tight git!!

[impulse]

Are we not killing stuff to eat every day......?

Dont include me, i am 100 percent Strict Vegetarian, and have been for years.

No ''Beef Stock,Chicken Stock,Fish Stock''...

My beliefs are i dont have the right to kill a living thing, for my pleasure...

just my two cents worth...

Kudos to you. I respect your compassion.

But a vegan would call you a cold blooded killer. And every time you walk out in public, you stomp on millions of living critters.

Where we each draw our line is a personal decision.

[Rooo]

Post revealing personal details removed.

[stevenl]

Pretty soon all the dive businesses wil be able to show tourists is dead coral

Plenty of it around already and a lot of the damage caused by dive boats

When was the last time you were out diving on a diveboat?

No first class diving here like Australia and other world first class diving destinations

Great barrier reef on the east coast and Ningaloo reef on the west coast still plenty of Turtles, whale sharks and black tips

and all other species on the west coast,also the remains of dead dutchmen at the abrolis islands another prestine area of coral reefs

So why bother, i am not interested in supporting the local diving industry, seen the best and its not here

So: you have not been diving here from a diveboat, but do know that all corals are dead and diveboats are causing a lot of damage.

Maybe time to get out more before you judge.

[Showbags]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

^^^... head lice, fleas on your dog...ticks....never put out ant rid, never a rat trap...sprayed a cockroach, fly, ...termites ...you would let termites eat your house ?.....you buy veges right ? what about the spray put on veges to kill the pests ? ...eggs...never eat an egg ?......

Ah.. this is for me, OK... let me think, Yes i do eat ''Eggs'' ... , OK, you've won, i am defeated, i will retreat to my Cave...

And wont surface until the New Year... now give me a break, i do try in my own little way....

Victory...

Animals and bugs kill humans...so I don't mind eating the odd animal......but I do not like indiscriminate killing of anything.

[Malthus101]

I want a thriving marine life too but I don't see where this hatred of spearfishers comes from, with or without tanks.

One man, one spear, one fish... seems about as natural as you can get. Don't see anyone starting a post here about the near extinction of cod in English waters to provide fillets for everyone's fish n' chips, tourists included.

OK, if a species is known to be endangered, I think a spear fisherman should know that and not target those species - but if it's a fish that's not endangered and he eats the fish - I don't see the problem.

People say using a tank gives an unfair advantage to the diver - yeah well, that's our right given we have evolved to be more clever than the fish - this is nature. A whale has a huge mouth, this gives it an unfair advantage over plankton.Live with it.

And the argument that a fish might be only injured and die slowly - please! You think stuff like that doesn't happen in nature ALL THE TIME?? A fish is not gonna cry about it, it will just live until it dies, it's not human.

A mountain goat slips and breaks a leg - you think some medical goat is there to cast it's leg and help it along? No it dies of starvation and exposure - welcome to life. A beat attacks another bear and rips it's leg open - do either bear care? No, one gets an infection and goes and dies somewhere. Nature.

I absolutely hate Western groups coming in from the outside and interfering in other countries laws and ways of doing things - NGOs... scum of the earth.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Malthus101

[hansgruber]

It was very delicious apparently. BBQ'd with some spicy dipping sauce really hit the spot.

[sgtsabai]

If this is a Black Tip and it appears to be in the photo they are not endangered and are good to eat. I know, I've caught and eaten. The major problem with fisheries world wide is commercial fishing, with sharks in particular it is 'shark finning'. Whenever sharks would show up the game fish would disappear and somebody on board often would end up with one on his line. We would pull anchor or disconnect from the rig and move to another spot because the fishing was over there. Black Tip were the only ones anybody kept and not many at that. We caught a 15+ foot Bull shark once, thought he was going to pull the boat to Cuba. We cut the line after identifying with a very close look, and I could hear "Jaws" all the way back in...lol. I'm at a loss as to why people that don't have a clue are so set against catching your own fish, killing your own game. I made a living with a gun for many years, fed my family basically on wild game, wild birds, fish. In addition to being a hunting guide, as a law enforcement officer it was also my job to enforce wildlife regulations. I don't have much use for 'tree huggers' and grass munchers. Along with NGO's, some people just need to mind their own business.

[NomadJoe]

It was very delicious apparently. BBQ'd with some spicy dipping sauce really hit the spot.

555. But I know your lying because shark meat is generally not very good, so "spicy dipping sauce" and other flavoring is usually needed. Offsets the high levels of murcury in shark meat, not that I have ever tried shark.

[transam]

In the UK the main fish at a Fish and Chip shop is Cod and Rock salmon. Rock Salmon looks very similar to a small shark, just in case you didn't know.

[Pacificperson]

This what the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has to say about blacktips.

"The Blacktip Reef Shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) is a common and wide-ranging species, regularly caught by inshore fisheries. Globally, populations are not considered to be in immediate danger of significant depletion. However, this species is currently fished, and due to small litter sizes and long gestation periods, is vulnerable to depletion."

Sort of go ahead, but be careful.

[stevenl]

This what the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has to say about blacktips.

"The Blacktip Reef Shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) is a common and wide-ranging species, regularly caught by inshore fisheries. Globally, populations are not considered to be in immediate danger of significant depletion. However, this species is currently fished, and due to small litter sizes and long gestation periods, is vulnerable to depletion."

Sort of go ahead, but be careful.

That is worldwide.

Unfortunately locally it is 'much more vulnerable to depletion' than indicated in that quote.

[craigt3365]

A number of off topic and bickering posts have been removed from view. Please don't paint the entire diving industry here with the same brush. I've been on some boats and they were first class. Rules were enforced, as much as they are anywhere else I've been diving around the world.

And like anywhere else, there are good and bad places to dive here. There are good and bad operators. But there is some truly world class diving here.

[Pacificperson]

In the UK the main fish at a Fish and Chip shop is Cod and Rock salmon. Rock Salmon looks very similar to a small shark, just in case you didn't know.

Transam,

Rosk salmon is a shark. It is more commonly known as the spiny dogfish.

Spiny Dogfish (Squalus acanthias), are also known as Spurdog and Piked Dogfish and were once amongst the most abundant species of shark in the world. However intense fishing pressure has brought many populations around the world to the brink of catastrophe. The IUCN Shark Specialist Group estimated that the Northeast Atlantic population has declined by over 95%, in this region and are now considered to be Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, with their global status listed as Vulnerable.

They are in much worse shape than the blacktips.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Pacificperson

[NomadJoe]

If this is a Black Tip and it appears to be in the photo they are not endangered and are good to eat. I know, I've caught and eaten. The major problem with fisheries world wide is commercial fishing, with sharks in particular it is 'shark finning'. Whenever sharks would show up the game fish would disappear and somebody on board often would end up with one on his line. We would pull anchor or disconnect from the rig and move to another spot because the fishing was over there. Black Tip were the only ones anybody kept and not many at that. We caught a 15+ foot Bull shark once, thought he was going to pull the boat to Cuba. We cut the line after identifying with a very close look, and I could hear "Jaws" all the way back in...lol. I'm at a loss as to why people that don't have a clue are so set against catching your own fish, killing your own game. I made a living with a gun for many years, fed my family basically on wild game, wild birds, fish. In addition to being a hunting guide, as a law enforcement officer it was also my job to enforce wildlife regulations. I don't have much use for 'tree huggers' and grass munchers. Along with NGO's, some people just need to mind their own business.

It is more accurate to say that black tips are not LISTED as endangered. 80% of the worlds shark populations we don't know enough about to make a judgment. Black tips are listed as near threatened globally on IUCN's Red List. But beyond that, reefies are not pelagic like other sharks and do not range widely. Therefore local populations are very susceptible to over fishing. Many of these local populations around the world have been decimated. Here in Phuket there is very little official data available. All we have to go on is first hand reports of early Phuket divers. I work with one such diver that has been diving almost non stop in phuket for, well, longer than I have been alive. But these early divers can only give us qualitative data. "There used to be lots, now there are few, or none." And similar. Having talked to many of these early divers, I have no doubt that if we truly understood the scope of the devastation and truly understood what it meant for the future of both fishing and reef based tourism, we would have many more laws protecting the oceans, and those laws would be actively enforced.

Even with what we do know about our oceans there can be no doubt they are in peril. But with out the political will to change the laws, little can be done.

But perhaps a foreigner arrested for spearing and illegally selling game fish including sharks which are nearly threatened globally and possibly nearly extinct locally, is what it will take to motivate legislatures. The defining outcry in social media demands it. Stay tuned.

[Dave 74]

Quite tasty, I believe.

[Showbags]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

This what the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has to say about blacktips.

"The Blacktip Reef Shark (Carcharhinus melanopterus) is a common and wide-ranging species, regularly caught by inshore fisheries. Globally, populations are not considered to be in immediate danger of significant depletion. However, this species is currently fished, and due to small litter sizes and long gestation periods, is vulnerable to depletion."

Sort of go ahead, but be careful.

That is worldwide.

Unfortunately locally it is 'much more vulnerable to depletion' than indicated in that quote.

Perhaps then go hang <deleted> on the Thai fisherman with powered boats, dynamite, nets, long lines and whatever other apparatus they use and most likely throw 95% of the shark...still alive mind you....back into the ocean, rather than one loan farang with no tank and most probably a lucky shot.......