A shore-based fisherman called his 14-foot hammerhead landed in South Padre Island the “catch of multiple lifetimes.” Unfortunately for the shark, its lifetime was very short-lived.
According to a Facebook post by South Texas Fishing Association, South Texas angler Poco Cedillo fought the fish for over an hour. After pulling the shark into shallow water to take pictures, the shark was too exhausted to swim away under its own power. After approximately 30-40 minutes, the endangered hammerhead tilted over and died.
Because hammerheads build up high levels of stress during prolonged angling battles, they require constant oxygenation to rid the body of lactic acid that builds up in the shark’s cells. By removing the hammerhead from the water following the fight, the Texas shark became part of the 90 percent mortality rate associated with the species after being caught.
Cedillo said that he owes “nobody an apology for this.” The shark meat was later donated to Good Samaritan Rescue Mission.
Both great and smooth hammerheads are listed as “Endangered” by the IUCN Red List due to extreme fishing pressures and their slow rates of reproduction. It is estimated that the worldwide population of hammerheads has declined by nearly 80 percent in the last 25 years.
“Catching this fish of a lifetime and it not making it totally sucks for me but it happens, especially since we tried hard,” Cedillo wrote. “For the ones out there moving their ignorant mouths, fish on amigos!”
