26 Commercial Shark Fishing in the Caribbean Area 



SECTION II 



HOW TO CATCH SHARKS 3 



There are three methods by which sharks may be 

 caught in the Caribbean — the simple hand line, the chain 

 set line and the net. All of these methods will be de- 

 scribed in this section. The one which you should use 

 will depend upon the size of your operation, the size of 

 your boat, the types of sharks which are generally caught 

 in your locality and the condition of the ocean bottom. 



The depths for which you should design your equip- 

 ment depend largely upon the depths usually frequented 

 by the sharks in your locality. Types of sharks, their 

 habits and where they are to be found are discussed in 

 Section 1 and in Appendix C. Some sharks, for exam- 

 ple, are customarily found in shallow water and others 

 come into shallow water only at night to feed. In gen- 

 eral, however, sharks are a bottom feeding fish and those 

 which are caught in deep water tend to be more valuable 

 because the Vitamin A content of their liver oil is higher. 



The bait which you should use will also depend some- 

 what upon the type of sharks in your locality. Feeding 

 habits among different species of sharks vary greatly. 

 This is also discussed in Section 1 and Appendix C. In 

 general, however, an oily fish is a good bait, preferably 

 if it is a bit "high". Porpoise meat is said to be very 

 effective. Mullet and bonefish are also good. Sharks 

 hunt their food by sense of smell and some sharks are 

 particularly attracted by blood. Chumming with blood, 

 therefore, often brings sharks to the hook. The dark 

 portions of bonita or small tuna are full of blood and are 

 good bait. 



Methods of Catching Sharks 



The simple hand line should be used when one or two 

 men are going out in a small dinghy. The net is profit- 

 able for large-scale fishing only. The chain set line is 



•The Distillation Products, Inc., of Rochester, New York, lias very kindly 

 contributed the material in this Section and in Section 3. 



