The Predators Turn Into The Prey in Shark Fishing

I was eight years old when I saw the movie Jaws and it wasn’t until 7 years later that the situation was to be turned around through shark sportfishing. Immediately after watching Jaws, I was frightened to get in the ocean. A few months later, I noticed they wouldn't normally come close to you in shallow waters unless you’re in a motion picture or extremely unlucky. However for years, I thought that sharks were generally superior to men and women. That sharks kill human beings but not the other way around.

Picture my joyfulness when I found out that the hunter may actually become prey. I was 15 when I found out I can track down sharks and I’ve been hunting them ever since. It’s like payback for my younger years lived in fright of the shark getting rid of my limbs, letting me expire slowly, but surely.

I love shark fishing. I'm not sure if it is because I understand I can be better than the shark or because it’s just fun. But while I really like being better than the shark, it wasn’t exciting when I saw pictures of how Taiwan anglers were destroying hoards of "biologically vulnerable" sharks. These are sharks which are a bit of weaklings, not exactly the Jaws type.

The Taiwanese shark fishing is for the fins to maintain the Chinese specialty of using shark’s fin as a delicacy. The truth is, I loved shark angling but I don’t do it in a commercial sense. It was a pastime that would take 1 shark per week or perhaps 2. Kill one for food then put back one to live and to make babies.

If you see the pictures acquired by the Pew Environment Group, you want to think twice about going shark fishing. It’s really awful, looking at those de-finned and bleeding sharks left on the side of the road. Some are even tossed back into the water to perish. These fishermen are animals. They ought to be thrown into the water.

It brought to mind a photo taken in Japan of anglers hurting dolphins and whales in shallow waters to supply the sushi industry. Tsk, tsk. Many Americans just love sushi, me, included. But when I saw that picture, I just stopped eating sushi.

As for the commercial shark fishing, the Taiwanese Government promised to create more rigid laws on this. It wasn’t mentioned how but what was definite was that de-finned sharks should no longer be thrown back into the water.