Sharks for Profit

Hawera Star, Volume L, 10 January 1931, Page 16

Sharks for Profit

’Jf'ALK to a blue-water sailor and he will have at least one good yarn to tell of the sea tiger. Superstition and ferocious revenge will be mingled in the story, for if the deep-sea man has one hatred more deeply rooted than any other, it is hatred of the shark, and when he captures one by chance, he is 'fiendish in his cruelty. Perhaps not I without cause, though the shark has his I good points as a scavenger, and there 'are other equally horrible and dangerous creatures in the deep waters of the ocean (writes F. Mills-Voung in an exchange). Seeking new fields of adventure, yachtsmen, and sportsmen devised the sport of shark hunting. Then it was discovered that the shark has a fine liver which yields great cpiantities of oil of medicinal value, and that certain portions of the creature are considered as edible delicacies in the Far Fast. A definite industry slowly developed, and when someone found out that the skin could be tanned'and that shagreen was a valuable commercial product, the industry made a decided spurt forward. The most striking example of tno enormous value of the research wont on monsters of the deep is to be found in the development of the shark fishcries around the coast ol Australia, which owes its inception to Captain (J. IC Turner, D.S.C., the veteran shark• catcher of the Pacific. After many years and much laboui, the problem of converting hides of shark and other fish into commercial leather was solved .and this leather is now in great demand throughout the world for shoes, bags and fancy ar tides. Since the oil and meat, can also be utilised, shark fishing for profit is ! attracting the attention of adventurous i spirits. Like big-game hunting for muI seums, if has till the elements of danger plus the lure of big profits. I The word “shark” conjures up me j visit of a creature sleek, silent and sinister, ever on the alert to grab in its leering mouth an. unwary bather or an i unlucky sailor gone overboard. Hut to Captain Turner and his comrades “shark" means dividends. The shark : hunter pursues his prey with unrelent- I ing vigour, and when a capture is made tin* brute is quickly despatched > and carved up, each portion being care- : fully considered in regard to its com- ’ mereial value. The hide is converted into valuable leather, strong, supple, and of tine appearance; the flesh is dried and sent to feed the hungry mil- i lions of the Far East and Africa; from i the livers are pressed out quantities J of oil, useful for many purposes, and 1 the fins wil be turned into soup to ticklle the palates of the Chinese. *• t

New Australian Industry

Adventurous Work

At Port Stephens, the lure of the ■ baited hook is no longer used. In its stead, nets cunningly constructed ana .; effectively laid to bar the brutes’ progress, are taking a great toll of sharks. The shark fisherman’s day begins at 2..‘50 in the morning, with a hasty smack | and a cup of tea, then the boats arc ’ pushed out. These boats are 30ft long, lifted with It’ horse-power Diesel en'gines, and are solidly constructed to withstand any amount of buffeting. An early start is made in ordei to be on i the fishing grounds in the calm of daybreak, and so avoid the ehopp.> sea which, an icy wind develops, rendering the handling of the nets difficult. Half an hour’s run from the steep headlands guarding the entrance to the port, two floating buoys indicate the end of the net. A thousand feet away twu more buoys mark the other end. The net hangs between these buoys. The ground rope is weighted with four-ounce leads every three leet, and the headline is buoyed by glass floats, five inches in diameter placed every eight feet. The nets are 12, Id or 20-inch mesh and 20 feet deep, and may be used in water of that depth or down to 120 ft. So far the shallower water has yielded the greater number of sharks. Pishing grounds are continually changed. If the catch is a poor one, the net is usually taken on board and relaid in another place. When a shark is enmeshed the net is dragged upward at the spot till the creature's head is above the surface of the water; a large hook suspended from the derrick is then thrust into its jaws, and it is dispatched by the heavy blows of a Hub on the back of the head or by a bullet through the brain, which is on top of the snout. Even after a shark has been killed his muscles reflex and cause him to thresh his tail wildly. I have seen several men hurt by such tailthreshing. . , When lauding nets, other sharks often dash in and devour the catch before it can be taken on board. Once a monster fellow maae a sudden dash at another smaller shark entangled in the net. Seizing the victim in its terrible jaws, it carried it off in a flash. Ten minutes later the same monster became entangled in another net, and was found with its prey half-way down its throat. Desperate fights between sharks foi fish caught in the nets often occur. The monsters dash at each other with open mouths and with a snap of their razorlike teeth one can cut his antagonist in twain. Of all the ugly customers caught in the nets, the electrie ray is the worst

This species of flat shark is a brute to fear. He can deliver ail electric sbocK through his tail which will knock a man unconscious. There have been some nasty accidents caused by this flesh. The giant niv, which reaches 12ft in diameter, has a whiplike tail, with a poisonous sting, with which it can kill its victims when in search of food. Bays are often caught in the nets, and are very valuable for their skin. The jadecoloured shagreen which is found on cigarette cases and toilet boxes is made from it.

When the boats return to the depot a j rope is secured round the tails of the sharks, and they are lifted to the deck by means of a derrick worked with a hand winch. The cutting up begins at once. First the fins are removed; these are cut off close to the body and are then dried in the sun or in patent dehydrators. They are exported to the East, where they are a great delicacy, being converted into soups or gelatin. A ton. of mixed sharks yields about 201 b of driend tin; the loss of weight on drying amounts to approximately (50 per cent. Next the skin is stripped from the car-

casses, the tails being first chopped off and the hide slit down the back and

round the body behind the gill openings. The hide, stripped off by use of

r! a derrick, is trimmed to remove all bits >. of ndhering flesh, and then Thoroughly •, washed with salt water. It is then •| placed in brine. A ton of shark yields I about 00 square feet of leather. ,! Exhaustive tests undertaken by Capi tain Turner, who was assisted by Nor- ' man Caldwell, one of the leading experts in tin 1 Commonwealth of Australia lon tin l commercialisation of marine pro j ducts, showed that shark liver oil had 'all the properties necessary for bone | formation in young animals, and is ! useful to farmers and stock brooders. In the exhaustive tests undertaken it | was found that if a small proportion of liver oil is mixed witli foodstuffs for calves or pigs the fattening properties ‘ are astounding. Comparative tests with i foodstuffs fed to young calves and pigs containing about 2 per cent, by weigot I of liver oil and tne same foods without 1 the addition of the oil have proved that this product is of exceptional value to ; stock brooders. I The successful establishment of shark | fisheries on the Australian coast and I other parts of the world is of very i great economic importance, for sharks are among the greatest enemies with which our food fish have to contend.

I For generations the greatest natural l enemies of our food fish have been al-

lowed to multiply in freedom, so if this

age>.t of destruction can be effectively checked, a greater supply of food fish should become available.