The Florida man who set a record by catching a massive mako shark has been stripped of the record due to a catch, no pun intended—he ate the shark.
Joey Polk set a Land-Based Shark Fishing Association record by catching an 11-foot, 805-pound mako earlier in the month. He finally caught the shark after an hour standoff that used a reported 2,700 feet of line. A third generation fisherman, the Milton, Fla. resident said he normally returns his catches to the water, but couldn't because the shark has sustained too many injuries. Because he's a man of the people, Polk grilled the shark and fed it to his neighbors.
Unfortunately for him, that's a violation of the ILSFA's rules. According to their website, the ILSFA "will no longer promote or accept record applications for sharks not released." That means Earnie Polk, Joey's cousin, remains the record-holder.
Earnie Polk caught a 725-pound mako in 2009, which he then cooked and ate with no penalty because the rule that prevented his cousin from taking his record hadn't been put in place yet. Fortunately for Joey, records are meaningless.
"We don't do it for the money, for the publicity, just to catch the fish," he told the New York Daily News. He just genuinely enjoys catching massive sharks.
[via Gawker and New York Daily News]
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