I've gotta comment here. As a fisheries biologist, its good to here that the take of sixgill sharks has been officially made illegal. Targetted shark fisheries anywhere have to be HIGHLY regulated and monitored because of their very low reproductive rates. And I guarantee WDFW has virtually no population data on sharks in Puget Sound (maybe some on dogfish). Most sharks literally have "litters" of 5 to 10 young per year. The sixgill is an exception producing as many as 100 young (which still isn't much).

But I have to admit (not being a diver or Seacrest regular) that I was clueless that sixgill sharks inhabit areas near the pier. I think it a bit harsh to call the anglers of the pier 'thoughtless', 'clueless', and 'stupid', just because they took a shark home. They probably had no idea that the fish are uncommon in Puget Sound. Are we any better when we bonk steelhead and salmon? Particularly the salmon issue, when such a small percentage of fish are marked and you're not sure whether its a native or not. You fish because the season is open. To me it smacks of the hypocrisy that the extremists advocate. People that eat meat, or hunt, or fish (or bonk sharks), are uncivilized evil barbarians.

You did a good job Parker, but why denigrate others like this?

My 02.



[This message has been edited by obsessed (edited 08-16-2000).]