Coast Guard: Illegal net kills hundreds of sharks
BROWNSVILLE -- A Coast Guard crew on Monday seized an illegal gill net with hundreds of dead sharks about 4 miles off shore near South Padre Island.
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A Coast Guard Station response boat was on routine patrol when it spotted the gill net about 17 miles north of the U.S.–Mexican maritime border, according to a news release from Lt. Cmdr. Brendan Evans.
The gill net was 5 miles long and was loaded with 345 dead sharks, including 225 black tip, 109 bonnet, and 11 bull sharks.
"Gill nets indiscriminately kill any fish or marine mammal it snares across miles of ocean, often leaving much of the catch spoiled by the time it is hauled in," said Cmdr. Daniel Deptula, the response officer for Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi. "Mexican fisheries have been depleted due to wasteful fishing methods such as gill netting and overfishing, which is why there has been increased illegal fishing activity into U.S. waters."
More at http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/article_b776cad4-50a3-11e2-bf4a-0019bb30f31a.html .
[font color=green]Most likely for shark fin soup.[/font] 
