My God, how many of these are out there.
"Ghost Net" Pulled From Ocean, Hundreds Of Sharks Found Dead http://www.wftv.com/news/2770359/detail.html
POSTED: 10:35 AM EST January 16, 2004
UPDATED: 11:09 AM EST January 16, 2004
PORT SALERNO, Fla. -- As many as a thousand sharks and fish were found dead when federal officials pulled a large abandoned fishing net from the ocean.
Two divers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, accompanied by state officers and two commercial fishing vessels, pulled the 500-yard "ghost net" from nearly 80 feet of water.
A loggerhead sea turtle also was found dead in the net Thursday.
"We have an investigation under way (in) reference to that ghost net," said Jeff Radonski, a special agent with NOAA's fisheries enforcement division in Miami. "It's a crime scene just like anywhere else. We pick up clues and leads from that."
The net, made of thick fabric lines to catch coastal sharks, was first spotted last Friday off the coast of St. Lucie Inlet.
The "sheer weight of all the animals" kept the Coast Guard from retrieving the net last week, divers said.
"It was pretty gruesome," diver Nick Chrobak said.
The mid-sized turtle, bloated and dead for days, was measured and documented by biologists from the Florida Marine Research Institute and later taken to a laboratory in Tequesta to be preserved as evidence.
The divers also videotaped the net and took photographs to be used as evidence. Then the dead sharks and fish were disposed about 12 miles offshore.
"You are responsible for the gear you set out there," Radonski said. "We could have Endangered Species Act violations, and that may elevate itself to criminal intent."
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