Courier Islander – Gillian Flaccus / The Associated Press
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. – News that a sport-fisherman reeled in — and kept — a potentially record-setting mako shark off the Southern California coast earlier this week is making waves with conservationists, who berated the catch because shark populations are vulnerable to overfishing worldwide.
The female shark caught Monday off Huntington Beach weighed in at just over 1,323 pounds. It was 11 feet long and measured 8 feet around its sizeable midsection, said Kent Williams, a California-certified fish weight master and owner of New Fishall Bait, where the shark was taken for frozen storage.
Jason Johnston, of Mesquite, Texas, caught the massive fish after a 2 1/2-hour battle, the Orange County Register reported.
