Shark-Surfing Angler Gets a Visit from Investigators
OutdoorHub Reporters 05.03.12
New Zealand’s Eddie Bithell claims to be an ethical angler, but for some reason, he still decided to catch a few waves on the back of a shark that had been dead for 30 hours. His actions prompted an investigation from the Ministry for Primary Industries which found no breach of the Animal Welfare Act despite heated complaints.
Three anglers were searching for swordfish off the coast of northeast New Zealand when they accidentally hooked a thresher shark. Bithell’s friend Zane Wright owned the boat the three men were using. In an interview with New Zealand Herald, Wright said they would usually release the fish, but it was hooked by the tail and unfortunately ended up drowning.
“I’ve been fishing all my life and never killed a shark. It’s not something that was planned,” Wright said. “I’ve been game fishing since I could walk and caught hundreds of sharks and always gone out of my way to release them unharmed. I’m all for shark conservation and disgusted about what happens commercially with long lining.”
Some people have told them they should have cut the line, but Wright said he didn’t want to leave the shark swimming with meters of line in them. The dead shark was taken back to shore and left overnight before the three men took it back out to sea the next day.
“The shark had been dead for around 30 hours. It was on a separate trip, we were taking the shark back out to feed it into the food chain,” Wright said.
Mark Collins was the friend who recorded the video and posted it to Facebook where it made rapid rounds around the Internet. Collins said there was a small celebration with mates the next day when the shark was weighed. As they took it back out to sea, Collins filmed Bithell surfing on its back behind the boat. He says claims that the shark was still alive when they surfed it are untrue. Collins posted the video to Facebook apparently without the permission of Bithell.
Bithell was so embarrassed about the video that he refused to comment on the incident.
Numerous environmentalists and fishing groups voiced their disgust about shark surfing. Auckland Zoologist and Environmentalist Catherine Cassidy said the video was “a shockingly disrespectful attitude to have to some of the rare marine animals in the world” when she contacted the Bay of Plenty Times.
“We see people working hard worldwide to establish shark sanctuaries, where every shark counts, and then we see acts like this from a so-called developed country. It is heartbreaking and offensive.”
She disregarded soothing words from others that this was just an act of harmless fun. “It’s not harmless fun. It was cruel and disrespectful. Respect for the oceans and marine life begins at home. People wouldn’t tie a slaughtered cow to the back of a van and drive it through a street, would they?”
The Ministry for Primary Industries said the mens’ actions didn’t breach any laws, but the ministry and the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council found the actions “very disappointing.”
