The name of the catch is shark 



There aren't many folks who'd like 

 to see the toothy jaws of a shark snap- 

 ping in their faces. But that's exactly 

 what Lloyd Davidson of Morehead 

 City wants. He's one of a rare breed of 

 commercial fishermen who stalk North 

 Carolina's waters for shark. 



For two to three days at a time, 

 Davidson rigs up his boat, throws out 

 his lines, and reels in some of the most 

 dangerous, but delicious, fish that lurk 

 the deep. 



During the winter months, he and 

 two crewmen go offshore 30 to 40 miles 

 where tiger and sandbar sharks are 

 plentiful. 



In the summer, when sharks move 

 to warmer nearshore waters, shark 

 fishermen follow close behind. And 

 anglers are more likely to catch them 

 off piers then. Silky, dusky, black-tip, 

 spinner, bull, sandbar and tiger sharks 

 are a few of the species caught. 



Other types snagged off North 

 Carolina include the blue, dogfish, 

 white, mako and thresher sharks, says 

 Lundie Spence, UNC Sea Grant's 

 education specialist. 



Jim Bahen, the UNC Sea Grant 

 marine advisory agent at Ft. Fisher, 

 says, "Anytime you go fishing in the 

 ocean . . . there's always the chance 

 you'll catch a shark," no matter what 

 you're fishing for. 



Davidson got hooked into commer- 

 cial shark fishing last year when he and 

 the owners of a Morehead City fish 

 market thought there was a demand 

 for the meat in Northern markets. 



The first step was to rig his 41 -foot 

 boat. This is the minimum length that 

 should be used, says Davidson, 

 because you need room for longlining 

 and for the proper facilities to prepare 

 the shark once onboard. Davidson 

 figures that it costs between $5,000 

 and $10,000 to rig a boat for shark 

 fishing. 



For Davidson and his crew, each 

 outing operates more like a hunt than 

 a fishing trip. Instead of fishing poles, 

 they use miles of cable and nylon line 

 attached to two huge, hydraulic reels 

 that will pull in their catch. Hooks are 

 spaced 30 to 50 feet apart on each line. 

 For bait, almost any fresh fish will do, 

 says Davidson, and if it's bloody — 

 that's even better. When the hooks are 



Photo by Nancy Davis 



Loyd Davidson on the Alligator 



ready, the "chum," or bait, is dropped 

 into the water and the waiting begins. 



On a good day Davidson catches 15 

 to 20 sharks. Hooking them is the easy 

 part, though. One by one, the sharks 

 must be killed. 



The methods are primitive, and all 

 are dangerous for the fisherman. To 

 kill sharks, fishermen club them, drag 

 them by the tail until they suffocate, 

 shoot them in the head or tie them 

 around the gills. 



When the shark is dead, it is hauled 

 over the stern, gutted, then bled by 

 cutting off the tail, fins and head. 

 Shark blood contains high concentra- 

 tions of urea that can convert to am- 

 monia and taint the flesh if not drained 

 promptly. The tough skin of the shark 

 can be removed now or after freezing. 

 The remaining carcass, or meat, is 

 thrown into a tall vat of ice as the next 

 shark is pulled aboard. 



In all that time of working at what 

 Davidson calls "a fairly grizzly opera- 

 tion," he still has 10 fingers and 10 

 toes. And he doesn't have any scars or 

 "Jaws" stories. 



But, Thomas Blevins does. A sport 

 fisherman and a UNC Sea Grant 

 research technician, Blevins came face- 

 to-face with a female spinner that 

 wasn't willing to give up. She 

 thrashed, extended her jaws, jumped 

 at the boat lights and bit at the rope. 

 With only his brother to help him, and 



a rod and reel to pull her in, Blevins 

 finally succeeded in landing the shark. 



This kind of excitement is what 

 keeps Blevins searching for shark. He 

 usually goes out in his 19-foot boat 

 with his brother and another crew 

 member. He uses a large rod and a reel 

 with 400 to 700 yards of 80-pound 

 braided dacron line, an amount he ad- 

 vises other shark fishermen to use. 



Like Davidson, Blevins chums for 

 shark. Blevins can usually guess the 

 size of the shark by how fast it takes 

 the bait. Smaller sharks rush up to the 

 bait, grab it and run, he says. But 

 when the big ones are around, his reel 

 clicks slowly and continuously, like a 

 bomb about to explode. 



Most fishermen are not as fond of 

 reeling in a shark as Davidson and 

 Blevins. In fact, sharks are a nuisance 

 to many anglers because they tear off 

 bait and scare away other fish, says 

 Bahen. Some fishermen shoot or club 

 the fish and leave them on the beach. 

 Bahen says he'd rather see anglers cut 

 the shark loose and let it go. 



Recreational fishermen just don't 

 want to take the time or trouble to 

 clean the sharks they catch, he says. 

 But Bahen thinks that with a little 

 more education about cleaning techni- 

 ques and about the shark's tasty meat, 

 more anglers will be inviting sharks to 

 dinner. 



— Sarah Friday 



