A dog walker remained in shock when he stumbled upon lots of sharks cleaned up on a Merseyside beach.
Mick Preston, from Meols, Wirral, travelled to Leasowe Beach on Wednesday night (May 17) after he saw a post on Facebook about dead sea animals cleaned up on the sand. Mick, 37, said he counted 25 smooth-hound sharks on a little stretch of the beach leading up to Leasowe Golf Club.
However, the variety of dead sea animals on the beach is said to be much higher, with another man informing the ECHO he discovered over one hundred spread throughout the sand.
Mick informed the ECHO: “Me and the Mrs and dog chose a walk and it’s simply not a great sight. I’ve done this for a pastime for 22 years – I’ve fished the Mersey because I was 14.
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“The gillnets are the primary issue. The fish that are surplus to requirements or ones they can’t offer, they’re simply polishing off.
“By the time they have actually been dragged through water in the internet and whatever [they’re already dead]. They’re tossed overboard like trash.
“Porpoises, seals, tope have all end up being rather routine in the Mersey and surrounding locations of Mersey. If we’re battling versus contamination and getting someplace and these fish are returning into Mersey…for how long is it up until numbers reduce considerably and we do not get them once again?
“If a rod and line angler had actually captured it bringing it in they would take a picture and launch it then.”
Mick said while he comprehends gillnetting is not unlawful, he feels how the webs are being utilized requirements to be kept track of correctly. He would like the North Western Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority (NWIFCA) to have a higher existence on beaches in the location to help keep an eye on the circumstance.
An NWIFCA representative said: “Under present regional and nationwide legislation, it is not unlawful to fish utilizing gill-nets on foot in the Mersey Estuary, nor dispose of undesirable by-catch from those webs. NWIFCA officers routinely patrol the location and carry out assessments of this fishery to guarantee compliance with particular guidelines concerning the physical makeup of the webs in usage.
“As a modern-day regulator, we are eager to receive and evaluate proof which allows us to think about how finest to handle and manage inshore fishing activity in the future. We would ask that any members of the general public who have issues concerning any fishing activity in the location contact us through our email [email protected].”
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