Commercial Shark Fishing in the Caribbean Area 13 

 SECTION I 



HOW TO IDENTIFY SHARKS — THEIR HABITS AND WHERE 

 THEY ARE LIKELY TO BE FOUND. 1 



There are more than 40 different species of sharks to 

 be found in the waters of the Caribbean. Some of these 

 are worth more than others,- and it is most important that 

 you know which types are commercially valuable and 

 which are not. If your catch includes too many sharks 

 with little or no value, you will not be able to make much 

 money shark fishing. On the other hand, if you can 

 recognize the different species and if you know how to 

 avoid catching the poorer types and where to find the 

 valuable ones, you should be able to make a very good 

 profit. 



For example, the Bonnethead Shark, the Sawfish 

 Shark, the Tiger Shark and the Nurse Shark are very 

 low in the Vitamin A content of their livers. Vitamin 

 A is the most important commercial product of shark 

 livers. The rest of the sharks, particularly the Requiem 

 Sharks and the Hammerhead Shark, have a high Vitamin 

 A content. This difference in sharks applies to other 

 products as well. The Nurse Shark, for example, has the 

 best hide. The hides of all the other species sell at good 

 prices but nevertheless at slightly lower prices. On the 

 other hand, the fins of the Nurse Shark are valueless, 

 while those of most of the other species sell at good 

 prices. Certain sharks are not good for human consump- 

 tion, such as the Hammerhead, which should never be 

 used for this purpose. 



In general, each species can be found in definite locali- 

 ties, and a little experimental fishing should enable you 

 to decide where the best sharks can be caught in your 

 region. For instance, the Bonnethead Shark and the 

 Tiger Shark are generally found in very shallow water 



^he material in this Section, as well as in the Appendices, has very kindly 

 been provided by Dr. Henry B. Bigelow and Mr. William C. Schroeder of 

 The Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. 



