Feds probe tournament angler who kept great white shark

Federal officials are investigating whether charges will be brought against a fisherman who caught and failed to release a great white shark during a shark-fishing tournament last weekend in Montauk.

The angler has not been identified by either National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Marine Fisheries Service officials or the Star Island Yacht Club, which hosted the tournament.

In 1997, the National Marine Fisheries Service prohibited commercial fishing of great white sharks and established a "catch and release only" policy for recreational anglers, a NOAA official said. Great white sharks are considered a threatened species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Great white sharks are also protected by the federal Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Management and Conservation Act.

Star Island Yacht Club manager Rich Janis, who oversees the tournament, said the angler made an honest mistake.

"He was embarrassed, of course," Janis said. "It was a case of mistaken identity."

He declined to name the fisherman or his boat.

NOAA officials said the great white - nearly 8 feet long - weighed between 300 and 400 pounds and biologists on the scene seized the shark.

Maggie Mooney-Seus, a spokeswoman for National Marine Fisheries Service, said failure to release a prohibited species is a civil violation. Under the law a violator is subject to civil litigation or a fine. NOAA officials said the fisherman could face a fine of $500 or more.

Janis said the Friday-Saturday tournament, featuring 168 boats, was monitored by NOAA marine biologists, who knew immediately the shark was an illegal catch. He said officials held a captain's meeting to go over tournament rules and discuss which species were eligible and which prohibited under law.

Twenty-two sharks - 15 threshers and seven makos - were weighed overall, according to tournament records.

This was the 24th annual tournament, Janis said. He could not recall another incident during which a prohibited species of shark was brought back to the dock, though he said "mistakes do happen sometimes."

"Sometimes, the species are pretty close," he said. "And people get excited, thinking they've caught a big fish. It happens."