But....some people will always choose to do things that seem stupid to others...

Saw a fishing show recently of a guy fishing for great whites, looked like awesome fun, but at the end the shark was let free so no harm done, but to catch and kill just for its fin is a definate waste IMO.

I don't think you saw anyone on this site finning sharks. Plenty of people take their fins off, but they're not usually reserved for soup.

I think most people ,try to do the right thing .but there are always going to be the big heros catching and killing sharks for whatever reason .same as taking undersize fish and over bag limits .there will allways be the group that these rules do not apply.

i doubt you seen people finning then releasing the shark on here.

as to the rest of your comments, i think its pretty sooky to cry for them. the eastern states have had shark fishing competitions for decades (although qld has been bought into line with wa regs, and can no longer take sharks over a certain length unless they are gonna be a record). there are reports in many eatern states magazines, that show some small trailer boats taking up to 3 HUGE tiger sharks totaling about 1800kg +, etc in one day during a comp! thats probably a bit excessive, and i'm not sure what they do with a tonne of tiger shark fillets, but as i said, they've been doing it for decades, and they dont even give it a second thought.

i dont have any problems with people keeping sharks in metro waters, and if bled and finned upon capture, are a welcomed addition to my esky.

if it wasnt against the law in w.a, i would personally love to catch one of those big mako sharks that keep nailing the sambos i've jigged up!!!

I love the pics of the guys with there four dhuies and a baldie and snapper ,and there is a little shark or some small skippy,sargent baker,whiting wrase in the bag ,with all the good fish fillets they still can't bear to throw the smaller not so tastey fish back .,that pisses me off..

hey if i catch a gummy shark from the shore (done a couple times), i take one every now and then to eat (mind you they are not big sharks).

Flake is great tucker!! and some people i know prefer flake over other top 5 fish.

But yeh finning and thowing back i doubt you would ever seen.

I have seen some fellas up north getting plenty of sharks, and they donk, then on the head then send them on their way.

They say the idea is to make them angry so they wont hand around. Not sure if this works or is appropriate or not.

Hi Riptide....i noticed you are based in Germany...just as a matter of interest have you ever caught a shark and if so what did you do with it?? By the way i don't shark fish on purpose but they can be on your line when you least expect it?

Been to China a fair few times and what they do with shark is amazing, thats not just the fins though.  They utilise every part of it, even the guts which amazes me.  If people choose to eat them thats cool by me, its just when they cut the fins off and throw the rest of it back that gets my back up.

I can gaurantee you that you won't be seeing that on this site!

Cheers,

Adam

guys, maybe you got me wrong when i said "finning". i guess you mean by that word that fins are cut off, and the rest is thrown away. i dont have seen that here, which is good. i said finning, because i saw pics of sharks with fins cut off, and probably the rest was also used in one or the other way. my bad, little misunderstanding there.

i don't intend to piss anyone off or tell them what to do and what not, just wanted to know other opinions, and maybe some people to think about what they're doing. 

 based in germany, right. caught quite a few smaller blacktips in florida, always tried to release them if possible. at least tried to get the hook out, otherwise cut the line. saw a couple of sharks at osprey reef over in qld with rusty hooks in their mouth, seemed to be doing fine though. caught a couple of shovelnose near townsville and put them back as well. 

cheers 

Chris 

Yes, somewhat ironically people tend to cut the fins off and throw them away here, not keep them for soup.

Perhaps we should try and get the most out of sharks here too and start eating shark fin soup as well =)

personally myself i have eaten most of the sharks i have caught.... keeping in mind ive only caught about 10. dont know why everyone has an misunderstanding that all sharks taste like crap. shark is one of my favourite seafoods and if i get a nice size shark ill eat it. yea it is stupid to kill the big old sharks, but the occasional medium sized one (10-20kg) is fine IMO as long as it is eaten. i personally use all the guts and offcuts of any fish/shark/cephlapod as bait and berley for future fishing trips. the nicest shark i have eaten was a shovelnose. it was a good 20-25 kg and we gave away some of the fillets to friends and they loved it too. there are several sharks i wouldnt eat or kill myself, such as the obvious few (tigers, whites etc), wobbygongs banjos and catsharks. i personally dont have a problem with people mainly targetting sharks for sport and i dont mind the occasional one kept for a feed. i appluad the angler if they can set out, make rigs, catch bait and successfully catch and land what they are hunting for. i have thought about taking a shark in to get mounted to a board but i havnt landed a decent enough one to do it. i welcome any shark (apart from PJ's + banjos) as a great bycatch when im fishing for snapper/mulloway etc.
what im really trying to say here is that im fine with shakrs being caught and kept as long as they are made use of. thats the main issue. it does tick me off when people want to be heroes and kill for fun. just the same as when people mutilate stingrays because there annoying.
im also sorry for the long rant but i had to get that off my chest

 mate im a "shark fisherman" and have caught and released thousands of sharks from 2 - 200kg fish and hooked into bigger fish that are too big to land , this is landbased fishing specifically targeting sharks/rays/skates  ..... its regarded as sport fishing(in South Africa) and is done on a daily bases with spring & summer being the best months to target these fish .

there is no better feeling watching a fully tightend drag getting smoked a few hundred meters on the first run .............. hang on tight and let the game begin , if u lucky enough to get into a monster it can take hrs of fun to land - man vs beast !

(i dont use ropes and chains - just a rod & reel,normally sliding a bait or just using throwbaits - havent done ballooning , as most sharks are bottom feeders)

dont knock it before u try it , its just another form of fishing !

im dead against killing of sharks and try to educate were possible so these fish dont get harmed , but man will be man and shit happens - if the whole of the shark is going to be used then so be it ........

luv it tast great to me ;-> grilled with  lemon pepper...yummmmmmmy