Shark caught in net, now for sale on the internet

By ANNE BESTON

The jaws of a monster great white shark caught in the Hauraki Gulf are for sale.

Thames fisherman Daniel Scott, who netted the pregnant female shark off Waiheke Island this month, has advertised the jaws on an internet trading site with bids to start at US$10,000 ($15,600).

Yesterday Mr Scott said he wanted at least US$12,500 and his wife Yvonne said anything less and the family would keep the jaws as a memento.

"The money has to be split with the crew and then there's tax so it might be better to have it as an ornament," she said.

National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research senior scientist Dr Malcolm Francis said he couldn't afford the jaws "and at that price neither could the National Museum".

He estimated they could fetch from US$10,000-US$20,000

A United States fossil shark teeth collector, Jim Rathbone, said since Australia clamped down on trade in great white shark parts, prices in the United States had "gone through the roof".

Mr Rathbone, from New Port Richey, Florida, said sharks' jaws with 5cm (2in) teeth were going for as much as US$12,000 and US$15,000 (NZ$18,800 to NZ$23,500).

The New Zealand Department of Conservation's expert on the Convention on Trade in Endangered Species, Wilbur Dovey, said bans on the trade in shark parts in some parts of the world would restrict where the jaws could be sold.

They could be freely traded within New Zealand because great white sharks were not a protected species here, but if the jaws were exported the family would need a permit from DoC.

The fishermen who netted the pregnant shark and revived two of her pups said it was 7m long.

Further reading: nzherald.co.nz/marine