State of Delaware
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
- Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Section

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2007

TESTING CONFIRMS SPECIES OF WHITE SHARK CAUGHT OFF INDIAN RIVER INLET

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control's Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Section has received verification that the shark caught June 2 in the Atlantic Ocean and landed at the North Shore Marina in Delaware Seashore State Park is a white shark, a protected species that is illegal to possess under federal law. The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service ran DNA tests using tissue samples from the shark to confirm identity of species.

Delaware Fish and Wildlife patrol agents working under a joint enforcement agreement with NOAA Fisheries Service discovered the 179-pound juvenile white shark during a routine compliance check on a recreational fishing boat after it docked at the North Shore Marina. The shark was caught about 8 miles offshore from Indian River Inlet.

At the marina Delaware agents Corp. Casey Zolper and Senior Corp. Doug Messeck boarded the 33-foot Wellcraft "Little One," owned and captained by Michael Davidson of Frankford, Del., and saw the shark in the cockpit.

NOAA Fisheries Service's Office of Law Enforcement will work with Delaware Fish and Wildlife Enforcement to complete the investigation. Once the investigation is complete, the case will be turned over to NOAA attorneys for potential civil penalties and potential permit sanctions for possession of a protected species.

White sharks are very rarely seen in Delaware waters, and are one of 18 species on the Federal Shark Management Plan's prohibited list, which makes possession illegal. The most common sharks found in the Delaware Bay are the smooth dogfish, the spiny dogfish, the sandbar shark and the sand tiger, with the latter also on the prohibited list.

More information on sharks in Delaware waters can be found online at: www.fw.delaware.gov/Fisheries/SharkRegs.htm. The 2007 Fishing Guide is also available online at www.fw.delaware.gov/Services/SeasonsGuidesMaps.htm, by clicking on "2007 Fishing Guide."

For more information, please call the Fisheries Section at 302-739-9914.