Now this is a fisherman that can use some redneck photoshopping.

Seventy-year-old Swiss pensioner Joe Waldis caught this 1056-pound Sixgill Shark off the Irish village of Carrigaholt. Is is some kind of record...hooray. While Sixgill Sharks are not critically endangered, they are not the most abundant fish in the sea. They are protected from commercial and recreational fishing off the waters of most countries--but not Ireland.

Kevin Flannery, director of the Ocean World aquarium in Dingle, Co Kerry, says it pretty well:

"Killing fish like this, and in some cases stuffing them and hanging them up on the wall, might have been popular in the days of Darwin, but it shouldn’t be the case now."

[Irish Examiner]

Luke Aston, the owner of the Clare Dragoon charter boat, from which the unfortunate Shark was towed, was very excited about the kill. He will be handing out samples of the Shark meat at the Sealyons Shop in Carrigaholt. This is extremely bad news for the Carrigaholt locals because Sixgill Shark meat is poisonous. The liver of the Sixgill is extremely toxic.

Due to their high mercury content, there is neither sport or commercial fishing of the sixgills in Puget Sound. A permanent ban on sport fishing for sixgills was put in place by Washington Fish and Wildlife in May 2001.

[Seattle Aquarium]

We hope Mr. Aston enjoys endangering the public health. Just because it swims, does not mean it is edible.

--Sharky