4 days ago
Great white shark found with missing jaws prompts black market trade concerns
A mutilated great white shark found washed up near Port Lincoln on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula was likely illegally caught for the black market trade, authorities say.
The 5-metre shark was found on a Louth Bay beach with its jaws missing and its stomach cut open.
Department of Primary Industries and Regions South Australia (PIRSA) director of operations with fisheries and aquaculture Matt Read said the shark was found "in a rather grim state".
"It had actually been cut up, or at least mutilated in the respects that its jaw had been removed from its carcass," Mr Read said.
"It also had its stomach cut open, presumably to sink the animal when it had been initially taken."
Port Lincoln marine scientist Kirsten Rough, who walks her dogs at Louth Bay beach, photographed the shark carcass on Sunday.
She said there was a trail of washed-up offal that could have been the shark's liver.
Also near the shark carcass were the remains of two seals and a tuna head, which she suspected had come from the shark's stomach.
"There was a couple of chunks of a lumpy, gooey brown and green substance before we saw the back half of a seal, just its two back flippers," Ms Rough said.
"The last thing we came across was what was left of the shark."
Ms Rough did not think the shark's death was a result of the toxic algal bloom causing dead marine life to wash up at beaches across Adelaide and the Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas.
"I thought that someone had probably caught it," Ms Rough said.
PIRSA was alerted to the carcass on Friday.
It said the fur seal carcass and remains of a southern bluefin tuna found near the dead great white could have been used as bait.
Mr Read said great white shark jaws were sought-after black market items due to the animal's protected status.
Due to the large size of this particular shark, he said its jaws would be very valuable.
"That's certainly what we fear. The size of this shark is very unusual," Mr Read said.
"Unfortunately we do think this could be a case of being taken for sale."
Wildlife trade expert and Flinders University chair of forensic DNA technology Adrian Linacre said the grizzly nature of the shark's death was "bizarre and worrying".
"Sharks are not often taken for the wildlife trade — except for fins or parts of their body for trophies that could be sold on the black market," Dr Linacre said.
"It's strange that in this case the carcass has been found. Someone has taken this and either not thought about removing the whole carcass, or maybe they got disturbed."
Dr Linacre said people underestimated just how big the illegal animal trade was in Australia.
"The vast majority, as far as we're really interested in, is things which leave the country where often the market is bigger than it is here," he said.
The penalties for illegally fishing a great white shark are severe.
Mr Read said the first offence for an individual could be up to $20,000.
"It can certainly range all the way up to $100,000 and two years' imprisonment," Mr Read said.
Parts of the shark have been taken as evidence by PIRSA to assist their investigation and will be stored in Adelaide.
"It might give us some timelines with regards to when we need to start looking at different areas of the waterways nearby," Mr Read said.
He encouraged anyone with information to call PIRSA's illegal fishing hotline FishWatch on 1800 065 522.
