Shocking discovery: Locals spot culled sharks laid out on Fingal Headland
A LARGE group of juvenile sharks have been found slaughtered on a local headland, angering locals and sparking an investigation.
Beaches & Fishing
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A LARGE group of juvenile sharks have been found slaughtered on a Northern NSW headland, angering locals and sparking an investigation.
The dead sharks were spotted last Friday at Fingal Headland about 10am by local Leila Gardener who took to Facebook with her outrage.
NSW Department of Primary Industries have idenitifed the sharks as Sliteye Sharks, based on fin colouration and shape of pectoral fin.
A NSWDPI spokeswoman said the department is investigating whether or not the disposed sharks are part of illegal activity.
“Each fisher can take a total of five of these sharks per day,” she said.
The Tweed Heads mother-of-two, Ms Gardener said she came across the sharks on her morning walk.
“I was at the Letita Spit with my dad and we decided to walk up on the rocks at South Head when we could smell something really horrible,” Ms Gardener said.
“There were 14 of them all about 80 to 100cm long, just laid out in rows. It smelt so bad and I can only guess they were caught and killed very early that morning or very late last night.”
Ms Gardener who is also a qualified park ranger at the David Fleay Wildlife Park said she had called the department of fisheries as soon as she found them and filled out a report on Saturday.
The NSW department of fisheries said they were now investigating the discovery.
Locals exploded over Ms Gardener’s photos, which revealed rows of bloodied and hacked sharks, believed to have been caught locally.
Some described it as “heart breaking”, while others suggested the council install cameras.
Many locals said they had seen the disturbing sight while walking past.
Ms Gardener said she was aware many people caught sharks recreationally at Fingal Head but said she had never seen something as shocking as this.
“Just the way they were laid out was really sad and it looked like the person who did it was proud of killing sharks like this, just the way they were displayed,” she said.
“I’ve never seenanything like it. It was very low of the person who did it.
“Fingal is a popular spot for recreational fishing but everyone catches and releases so they don’t hurt the wildlife,” she said.
“It is a bit of a surprise why someone would do this and I really hope by posting these photos online they see them and the reality and impact of what they have done sinks in. There should be a penalty for doing this sort of stuff.”
The area is also Aboriginal protected land.
More information to come.
