Amador ledger., 1906-08-17
THE SHARK HUNTERS.
Horrible but Alleged Painless Way
the Fish Are Killed.

the Fish Are Killed.
The strictly commercial business OF
shark hunting is done in small sloops
whose headquarters are in the more
northerly Norwegian ports. The crews
are for the most part made up of pure
blooded descendants of the vikings,
who are still to be found in any num-
Der among the codfishers of Hammer
fest of Tromso. And q magnificent
from boyhood to a life Of hardship.
they have way of treating Father
Neptune with a slightly contemptuous
liberation, like an old friend, of some
what uncertain temper, whose rapid
changes from smiling benevolence to
wild, clustering anger are ON the whole
rather amusing than otherwise.
They care nothing for danger and
little for suffering-in themselves or in
others. Why, then, should they stor
to think that perhaps a MANNED but
still living shark can feel?
The fishing is done off the coast Of
Iceland in about eighty fathoms of wa
fer. Three or four gallows-like struc-
lures are rugged up around the sides Of
the sloop and from each of these hangs
a pulley block, over which runs
strong rope, and to the end of this the
baited hook is fastened. A plentiful
supply Of ground bait is thrown out to
attract the quarry, and such is the ca
gerness with which the sharks take the
bait that sometimes each one Of these
galloWs-like fishing rods will have its
fish hooked and fighting for life all at
the same time.
There is no playing" the fish. 1t is
not necessary OF possible, and the pow
erful tackle is hardly likely to break,
40 matter how fiercely the hooked
shark may struggle. But the shark is
not for his size a game fish, and except
when lie is actually being hoisted out
of the water there is no very serious
strain on the tackle If he does now
and then get away it IS not because he
ever manages to break the line, but be-
cause lightly fixed hook easily tears
through the soft cartilaginous skeleton
of his head and so sets him free.
AS soon as Il shark has taken one of
the bats the hauling tackle attached to
his particular gallows is manned, and
without any superfuous fuss or cere-
mony he is hauled up to the sloop and
hoisted just clear of the water
He is not brought ON board at all.
but with few bold slashes his liver is
cut out as he hangs and is thrown into
a tub to be further dealt with later
Then his eyes are put out, and he is
cut adrift to go and complete the tardy
process of dying where and how he
pleaSes.
All this sounds very horrible, but
there Is one curious fact which goes
far to make US believe that this death
cannot, after all, be such a cruel one
as at first appears. 1t is this, the fisher
men say--that unless they put out the
sharks eyes he will afterward cause
them lot of trouble by coming and
taking the bait second time. o.
1t sounds incredible, but the state
ment is thoroughly well authenticated
by eyewitnesses who have seen a liver
less shark do just this very thing. Sci
entists doubtless are right in saying
that the shark (Which by anatomical
classification is one of the lowest of
the fishes does not feel pain In the
way more highly organized animals
feel it. We will cling to that belief, for
it Is consoling-to us, if not to the
shark, who Is thus sacrificed that his
liver may supply US with-what?
1t is a secret not to be spoken aloud.
Norway is one of the great centers of
the cod trade, and from cod is made
cod liver OIL and sharks liver oil tastes
and looks exactly like it-Pearson's
Magazine