Fishermen posing on piles of dead marine animals has Fisheries and Oceans Canada investigating the possibility of poaching and shark finning at the Bradford’s Cove weir in Grand Manan.
In a series of photos and video obtained by CBC News, weir fishermen are posing on top and alongside what appear to be piles of dead, bloody, porbeagle sharks. There is a harbour porpoise and a dead basking shark in the photos as well.
In one video a fisherman straddles a dead porbeagle shark, grabs it by the nose, jerking its lifeless head up and down, pretends the shark is laughing and proclaiming, Bradford’s Cove Weir.
Other photos show a dead shark strung up on a boat at night and drenched in blood. A fisherman appears to be cutting into the dead animal’s fins.
‘If that is a shark and the fins are being taken off of it in that fashion and it hasn’t been landed, it’s illegal.’ Jim McKinnon, Fisheries and Oceans Canada
“Shark finning is illegal in Atlantic Canada,” said Jim McKinnon, a conservation officer for Fisheries and Oceans Canada.
When presented with the photo of the dead shark being carved up, McKinnon said the activity appeared to be illegal.
“Yes,” he said.
“If that is a shark and the fins are being taken off of it in that fashion and it hasn’t been landed, it’s illegal.”
An active investigation is underway to find out why the porbeagle sharks were hauled on board a weir fishing boat. So far no charges have been laid by DFO.
The photos were posted as recently as two weeks ago. Some of the images were posted as far back as 2010.
The most recent photo features a grinning fisherman sitting atop a pile of four dead porbeagle sharks.
A total of 20 pictures and a video of dead marine animals were obtained by CBC News before they were suddenly removed from Facebook.
CBC News tried to contact the holder of the fishing licence for the Bradford Cove weir by phone but received no answer.
His home and office on Grand Manan were also visited but he was not available at either location.
It’s pretty disappointing,’ UNB researcher says
The majority of the dead animals are porbeagle sharks, many appear bloodied.
Steve Turnbull, a marine biologist and shark expert at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John, said the gushing blood from the sharks is an indicator that the animals were killed within minutes of the pictures being taken and not found dead and brought aboard.
“Dead sharks do not bleed like that unless they are gutted,” Turnbull said.
CBC 2013