This is stated in a study conducted by the Institute of Marine Biology at Mānoa University in Hawaii. The research took place between 2011 and 2019.
Millions of sharks are in danger of dying because of hooks stuck in their bodies.
This is stated in a study conducted by the Institute of Marine Biology at Mānoa University in Hawaii. The research took place between 2011 and 2019.
Millions of sharks around the world “silently” suffer the effects of fish hooks that can remain inside their limbs for over seven years, causing severe health damage, including internal bleeding and necrosis. This is affirmed in a study conducted by the Institute of Marine Biology at Mānoa University in Hawaii. The research took place between 2011 and 2019 when the team studied tiger sharks in the oceanic waters surrounding Tahiti, finding that 38 percent were injured by hooks or industrial fishing gear.
“This is a problem that probably affects millions of individual sharks in all oceans around the world,” Carl Meyer, an associate researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, told Newsweek. Longline (or longline) fishing involves the use of a single line that can have several dozen to several thousand hooks. These longlines are thrown into the ocean and left on the bottom or surface of the ocean, where they usually remain for several hours before being dragged back.
Commercial fishermen using this technique hope to catch mainly high-value tuna and swordfish, according to Meyer, but many other species may accidentally come across hooks. “In most cases, fishermen don’t want to catch sharks, which are simply attracted by the bait,” explains the researcher.
“When caught, sharks often break or bite the longline, or are released by fishermen who do not remove the hook. And so sharks swim away with hooks in the stomach, throat, mouth, around the jaws or elsewhere on the body.
Surface wounds can cause any kind of discomfort, from mild irritation to internal bleeding, while an ingested hook can tear their internal organs,” continues Meyer, pointing out that hooks can also interfere with shark feeding, wrap around the fins and cut off circulation, causing limb necrosis. “Replacing objects currently used with non-stainless hooks is not a panacea, but it could help limit damage in animals by reducing the time the hook deteriorates and releasing sharks earlier,” the researcher concludes.
