The two thresher sharks found dead beached in Torre del Greco last week were killed intentionally by professional fishermen using the longline technique. This is what emerged from the autopsy carried out yesterday by experts from the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn.
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The female was also pregnant with four cubs. The autopsy revealed that the animals were caught with a fishing hook and then abandoned. The fishermen, probably using the longline technique, would have intentionally caught the sharks with the aim of selling them illegally.
Shark meat, although not valuable, is edible and the trade of protected species is a crime. The thresher sharks, the report states, “were found with their tails tied to a rope and tied to a floating body. The autopsy revealed a penetrating lesion associated with a haemorrhagic process in the oral cavity area, compatible with the insertion of a fishing hook”.
The episode highlights the negative impact of human activities on marine biodiversity. Non-selective fishing, such as longline fishing, poses a serious threat to many shark species, already at risk of extinction in the Mediterranean.
The Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn has stressed the importance of raising awareness among fishermen about the need to protect these marine creatures and has launched an appeal for greater protection of elasmobranch species.
Over 50 species of sharks present in the Gulf of Naples
And there are over 50 species of sharks and rays present, even if only occasionally, in the Gulf of Naples: from the small catshark to the large basking shark, the list includes deep-sea sharks, such as the pigfish or the six-nosed mullet, but also rays and stingrays – which live on sandy bottoms – and deep-sea “vagabonds” such as the thresher shark itself, the mako and the blue shark, and most exceptionally the white shark (in 1920 an enormous specimen was recovered in Procida).
Article published on November 5, 2024 - 08:28
