Basking Sharks are one of the most endangered fish thanks to the Shark fin trade.

Justin and Joseph MacDonald of Alma, Canada found a 28-foot Basking Shark tangled up in their Lobster lines in the Bay of Fundy on Thursday night. They untangled the 4000-pound Shark and dragged it all the way home. The MacDonald family, who operates Thankful Too Family Fisheries and the Alma Lobster Shop, plan on displaying the Shark's tail and Jaws at their Lobster shop. They dumped the rest of the Shark at sea. This leaves us to wonder, aren't Basking Sharks a protected species in the Atlantic? And as a protected species, shouldn't taking them for any reason--dead or alive--for the purposes of trophies also be illegal? Shouldn't Canadian authorities confiscate the trophies from the MacDonald family and at least conduct some form of investigation into the matter? The Canadian fisheries department has less than a stellar record of managing any species, let alone the Basking Shark. The Canadian government considered the Basking Shark a pest and between 1945 to 1970 attempted to exterminate them from the Canadian Pacific Coast.
The real goofy thing about putting Basking Shark jaws on display is that since they feed mainly on plankton, their teeth are not so impressive--in the predatory sense anyway.

Oh, Canada!

--Sharky

technorati tags: Sharks, Basking Sharks, Alma, Canada, Bay of Fundy, Endangered Species, Lobster, Canadian Seafood

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