A fisherman has caught a massive three-metre 200kg bull shark off a popular swimming beach on the coast of northern New South Wales.
Joel Merchant, 33, caught the shark with his girlfriend Danielle Simpson, 35, on Australia Day off the coast of Duranbah, near Tweed Heads.
Mr Merchant catches fish – including sharks - to sell to the local Tweed Heads shop Scales Seafood.
Mr Merchant caught the shark off a fixed fishing line anchored 2km from Duranbah.
He said it was the first time Ms Simpson had come out on the boat with him to check the lines and she was stunned by their catch.
'She was amazed by it,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
But he insisted the 200kg shark was easy to get on the boat – and wasn't anywhere near the biggest he's ever caught.
'It was pretty easy to pull on that one, it just behaved itself,' Mr Merchant said.
'I have no idea how many more I've caught but the biggest one a long time ago was around about four metres.
'You can quite often see them about three-and-half metres.'
Mr Merchant also stressed that he operated in a controlled fishery that was 'heavily policed'.
'There are so many rules, it's not just open slather,' he said.
'I only have five hooks in the water and I get enough to supply my local fish shop.'
Since posting pictures of the shark online the couple has attracted a major backlash from people accusing them of being 'horrible' and 'murderers'.
'I target spanner crabs, snapper and other fish but I also like to put flake on the shelf for them,' Mr Merchant said.
'I fish, I pay my bills and I catch a few sharks… people want to eat flake and I supply it.'
He said the angry commenters accusing him of killing near-extinct species were 'misinformed' about fishing laws and endangered species.
'People are saying "You're killing wonderful creatures", "The ocean's not yours", "It's one step away from clubbing puppies",' he said,
'People are just misinformed and they don't understand just what's out there, they only say what's said in the media by so-called experts.
'NSW have a 500kg a week fishing limit - that's only a couple of sharks at the end of the day.
'We try to target the smaller sharks but we can't.'
Mr Merchant said there were 'plenty' of bull sharks in the ocean.
'I'm out there doing it, I'm the only one on this east coast region fishing for sharks in the northern NSW rivers so I'm the only person out there seeing this for myself,' he said.
'Everyone else is just sitting back getting told about something that they don't know what they're talking about.'
Alexia Wellbelove, senior program manager at the Humane Society International, said bull sharks are not listed as a threatened species in NSW but said 'that doesn't mean that you shouldn't protect them'.
'It's our preference that sharks like that are kept alive rather than being caught and eaten as food,' Ms Wellbelove said.
'There are plenty of other fish in the sea that are better as food sources.'
Ms Wellbelove added that protected shark species in NSW include great hammerheads, scalloped hammerheads, great whites and grey nurses – which are listed as critically endangered.
'To our mind we know there's lots of sharks out there and it's great to see they're being caught,' she said.
'But if a shark is accidentally caught then let's release it and leave it to carry on with its life.'
Joel Merchant, 33, caught the shark with his girlfriend Danielle Simpson, 35, on Australia Day off the coast of Duranbah, near Tweed Heads.
Mr Merchant catches fish – including sharks - to sell to the local Tweed Heads shop Scales Seafood.
Mr Merchant caught the shark off a fixed fishing line anchored 2km from Duranbah.
He said it was the first time Ms Simpson had come out on the boat with him to check the lines and she was stunned by their catch.
'She was amazed by it,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
But he insisted the 200kg shark was easy to get on the boat – and wasn't anywhere near the biggest he's ever caught.
'It was pretty easy to pull on that one, it just behaved itself,' Mr Merchant said.
'I have no idea how many more I've caught but the biggest one a long time ago was around about four metres.
'You can quite often see them about three-and-half metres.'
Mr Merchant also stressed that he operated in a controlled fishery that was 'heavily policed'.
'There are so many rules, it's not just open slather,' he said.
'I only have five hooks in the water and I get enough to supply my local fish shop.'
Since posting pictures of the shark online the couple has attracted a major backlash from people accusing them of being 'horrible' and 'murderers'.
'I target spanner crabs, snapper and other fish but I also like to put flake on the shelf for them,' Mr Merchant said.
'I fish, I pay my bills and I catch a few sharks… people want to eat flake and I supply it.'
He said the angry commenters accusing him of killing near-extinct species were 'misinformed' about fishing laws and endangered species.
'People are saying "You're killing wonderful creatures", "The ocean's not yours", "It's one step away from clubbing puppies",' he said,
'People are just misinformed and they don't understand just what's out there, they only say what's said in the media by so-called experts.
'NSW have a 500kg a week fishing limit - that's only a couple of sharks at the end of the day.
'We try to target the smaller sharks but we can't.'
Mr Merchant said there were 'plenty' of bull sharks in the ocean.
'I'm out there doing it, I'm the only one on this east coast region fishing for sharks in the northern NSW rivers so I'm the only person out there seeing this for myself,' he said.
'Everyone else is just sitting back getting told about something that they don't know what they're talking about.'
Alexia Wellbelove, senior program manager at the Humane Society International, said bull sharks are not listed as a threatened species in NSW but said 'that doesn't mean that you shouldn't protect them'.
'It's our preference that sharks like that are kept alive rather than being caught and eaten as food,' Ms Wellbelove said.
'There are plenty of other fish in the sea that are better as food sources.'
Ms Wellbelove added that protected shark species in NSW include great hammerheads, scalloped hammerheads, great whites and grey nurses – which are listed as critically endangered.
'To our mind we know there's lots of sharks out there and it's great to see they're being caught,' she said.
'But if a shark is accidentally caught then let's release it and leave it to carry on with its life.'
Source : DailyMail , 9 News
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