Millions Of Sharks Silently Suffer In Pain As They Have Fishhooks Stuck In Their Bodies
New research from the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawaii M¨¡noa. Millions of sharks are suffering in pain as commercial fishhooks embedded in their skin without any means of getting them out on their own. The hooks embedded in a sharks skin or mouth can remain there for several years and lead to major health problems including internal bleeding and necrosis.
We have seen real time effects of dumping plastic into the ocean on its aquatic life. Turtles and fishes trapped in polythenes, seals trapped in frisbees are but a few such examples. But not just dumping plastic but other human operations are also having a dangerous impact on sea life.
According to new research from the Hawai'i Institute of Marine Biology at the University of Hawai'i M¨¡noa, millions of sharks are suffering in pain as commercial fishhooks embedded in their skin without any means of getting them out on their own.
Sharks
According to the research the fishhooks embedded in a shark's skin or mouth can remain there for several years and lead to major health problems, including internal bleeding and necrosis.
¡°This is a problem that likely affects millions of individual sharks across the world's ocean,¡± Carl Meyer, an associate researcher at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology, told Newsweek.
Reuters
He further said, "In most cases, the fishers do not want to catch sharks¡ªthe sharks are simply attracted to the same bait as target species, or to the hooked target species themselves. If hooked, sharks often break or bite the line, or are cut loose by fishers without them removing the hook. After these interactions, sharks may swim away with hooks embedded in their stomachs, throats, mouths or externally around the jaws¡ªor elsewhere on the body¡ªand may also be trailing line from those hooks.¡±
Hooks can interfere with shark feeding, and fishing lines trailing from hooks can wrap around fins and cut off circulation to the fins themselves, causing necrosis, according to the reports.
New Atlas
Solution? Meyer recommends shifting from stainless steel hooks to carbon steel hooks, the latter is supposed to fall off sooner.
He said, ¡°Switching to the use of non-stainless hooks is not a panacea but will help to reduce impact by decreasing the time required for sharks and other animals to shed embedded hooks.¡±
