So close, yet so far away.
The Delph Fishing team was casting lines in Dry Tortugas National Park recently and pulled in some humungous snappers. Some of them are so large, it’s hard to believe they’re real.
And because they are so big, it can take an awfully long time to reel them in, which exposes them to shark attacks as they are being slowly pulled up into the fishing boat.
The snapper in the picture below probably had a chance to rival the world record, which is set at 50 pounds and 4 ounces, if it weren’t for the fact that when it eventually made it up to the surface, half of it was gone.
Those with Delph Fishing estimated that the fish could have been around 45 and 50 pounds, but they’ll unfortunately never know since only the top half of the fish was still on the hook when they got it.
The fishery has been critical of national and international protection of apex predators, but not the fish that also have to thrive in the ocean.
When they posted the picture of the half-snapper, they were frustrated both by the overpopulation of sharks in the area and the fact their fish never got a chance to be officially weighed.
The comment on the photo stated:
“Well over 45-50 pounds this was one of the biggest American true red snappers we’ve ever taken only to lose it to the tax man in the end. Where do we go from here with these sharks?
What’s really the next most effective move on how to fix this problem? It’s definitely gotten out of control don’t you think?”
Just look at how big only half of that snapper turned out to be.
Could they just weigh the remains of the fish and double it?
That seems like it would be fair to me…
