TRAPPED SHARK. Fishermen and personnel from the town of Buenavista, Agusan del Norte release a megamouth shark that was entangled and trapped in a fisherman’s net on Saturday (June 6) in Barangay Tinago. The shark has a length of 20 feet and an estimated weight of more than 500 kilos. (Photo courtesy of BFAR-13)
BUTUAN CITY – A fisherman’s net has accidentally entangled and trapped a megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios) Saturday morning in the town of Buenavista, Agusan del Norte.
Andres Sarsaba, head of the Tourism Office and the executive assistant of the mayor of Buenavista town told Philippine News Agency Sunday (June 7) that the fisherman, identified as Alexander Bohol, slowly dragged the entangled megamouth shark towards the shoreline of Barangay Tinago, Buenavista where other fishermen extended help in freeing the shark from the net.
Sarsaba said the local government unit of Buenavista, upon the order of Mayor Norbert B. Pagaspas, immediately sent personnel in Barangay Tinago to help the fishermen deal with the megamouth shark.
He added that the megamouth shark has a length of 20 feet and an estimated weight of more than 500 kilos.
“After freeing from the net, the fishermen helped the shark released in the deeper portion of the sea but it came back to the shore,” Sarsaba said.
He added that the fishermen again guided the megamouth shark back to the deep portion of the sea where it was finally released.
“This is not the first time that our fishermen here encounter megamouth sharks. We received reports of the frequent sightings of megamouth sharks in our seawater,” Sarsaba said.
In a post in their Facebook account Saturday afternoon, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources in Caraga Region (BFAR-13) also reported the release of said megamouth shark in Buenavista, Agusan del Norte.
The BFAR-13 said that there are around 200 species of the sharks swimming in the Philippine waters while only 25 species are protected.
“Sharks and their relatives (rays and chimaera) are particularly vulnerable to threats from targeted fishing, overfishing, bycatch, pollution, habitat degradation, unregulated tourism and climate change. These threats place almost a quarter of the world's total chondrichthyan — a diverse group of cartilaginous fishes that includes the sharks, skates, rays, and chimaeras — species at risk of extinction,” the BFAR-13 said. (PNA)
