MOSSEL BAY NEWS - A Mossel Bay angler had a shocking catch two nights ago.

On Thursday, 17 June, Chris Pietie Barnard was fishing at Beacon Point, also known as Skurwebankies, near the harbour wall, when he hooked a  copper bronze whaler shark.

He realised the shark had not taken the hook. Barnard had actually hooked blue plastic, which was wrapped around the fish's gills.

Barnard told the Mossel Bay Advertiser: "It looked as if the plastic had been on the shark for a long time because it had grown around the plastic. It had actually damaged the shark's gills.

"It was the type of plastic wrapping you find on a new fridge, that you usually have to cut off with scissors. It is also like the blue plastic in which fish is packaged."

Barnard said: "We cut it off and spent some time with the shark in the water to make sure it swam off strongly."

He is part of the Mossel Bay Angling Club and catches and releases sharks. He said: "We tag the sharks. Then if someone catches the same one again, we send the tag number to Oritag."

Barnard put a post about the catch on Facebook, expressing his sadness and anger at the effect of pollution on sea life and he appealed broadly for people to keep the oceans clean.

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