RI fishermen caught a monster shark off Block Island. Here’s why they let it go.
Capt. Chris Brown was off Block Island fishing for scup, a small fish that weighs about a pound, when something much bigger landed on his deck: a 500-pound, 16-foot-long common thresher shark. The big catch might have been a boon for some commercial fishermen. Thresher sharks “are a popular eating fish,” but “like a lot of species, they are declining,” said Jon Dodd, executive director of the Atlantic Shark Institute in Wakefield. Brown is among more than 25 local commercial fishermen and charter boat captains that provide an invaluable service for the Atlantic Shark Institute by tagging sharks, according to Dodd. Dodd also goes on the water and tags sharks, but they’re often not easy to find, and his institute can cast a much wider net with the help of fishermen like Brown, who provide their help for free, Dodd said. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 08:07
Leave a Reply