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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 30, 2006 17:17:27 GMT 12
As of today Great White sharks are fully protected in New Zealand waters, the 200 mile zone and from fishing anywhere by a New Zealand flagged boat.
It is now illegal to hunt, kill or injure any Great White. Penalties for doing so will be up to a $295,000 fine.
If you're fishing and accidentally capture one, it must by law be returned to the water immediately as intact as possible, and then you have to report the capture to a fisheries officer.
Great news for conserving the now rare shark, it'll help their population a great deal in our waters. I fear getting the hook out when throwing one back may be a trifle difficult though.
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Post by steve on Nov 30, 2006 17:33:04 GMT 12
They have survived a million years without a parliament passing such regulations...The Orions should use them as submarine targets for their torpedos...love the dolphins but sharks I enjoy only with my chips!.It wont be long before certain spiders are protected from your foot..
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Post by Dave Homewood on Nov 30, 2006 17:59:18 GMT 12
Considering that they have been all but wiped out by man, and have just as much right to existence as we do, I think it's a good thing. They do serve a purpose in the sea, just as other vital endangered animals like tigers and elephants and kiwis do. Good on the government for trying to stop them becoming extinct.
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Post by flyjoe180 on Dec 1, 2006 13:21:00 GMT 12
$295,000 for injuring or killing a Great White, yet only a meagre prison term for intentionally injuring or killing another human. I agree with Dave though, the Great White is a beast of the sea and we have no right being there anyway. Besides its anti-evolutionary to go back into the sea, thats why I fly.
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Post by steve on Dec 1, 2006 14:45:37 GMT 12
Sure the Great White shark is a impressive creature...and one should not hunt them down like those lovely african lions...I'm just not convinced that so many are being caught to warrant these new penalities. (6 mth imprisoment is way over the top) what about game fishing and those lovely swordfish we lcatch and mount. Some years ago i caught a broadbill swordfish in the bay of islands plus a 290 ib hammerhead shark...we shot the shark. Had it been of a great white...maybe Chris Carter conservation minister should be called to remove the hook!
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 1, 2006 15:30:58 GMT 12
I believe a hell of a lot are caught, specifically for their fins to be cut off for the Chinese market, and then thrown back. That's why you don't see many in the shops or coming off the boats. It's as insane as all the other endangered species the flipping Chinese kill for one bit, just so they can become more fertile and overpopulate the world a bit more.
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Post by steve on Dec 1, 2006 16:03:17 GMT 12
Come to think about it my (chinese) wife does enjoy shark fin soup...i will stir her up about this pleasue when she comes home from the airport late tonight!!
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