Endangered thresher shark found dead in Cornwall believed to have been killed by 'sports fisherman'

An endangered species of shark has been found dead in Cornwall and wildlife experts believe it was killed by a "sports fisherman".

The large thresher shark was washed ashore before being found on Par Beach on New Year's Day by a dog walker, who alerted Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

The charity sent volunteers from it's Marine Strandings Network who carried out an initial assessment and concluded the shark had "experienced significant trauma, likely caused by line-caught sport fishing".

In a statement posted to the group's Facebook page on 2 January, it added: "Bycatch remains a major threat to ocean wildlife. Cornwall Wildlife Trust urges water users to follow safe handling and release practices to protect our marine animals.

"Post-mortem results are pending, full results will be published in due course. Learn more about responsible fishing on our website."

Thresher sharks are classified as Endangered in European waters by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

In an update posted on 3 January, Matt Slater, the charity's marine conservation officer, said: "It's very sad this shark died.

"It was taken away by our volunteers and a post-mortem was carried out. The report hasn't been published yet, but it looks as if this shark was most likely caught by recreational fishers. There was a hole in the jaw, which looks like it was caught by a hook."

James Barnett, a veterinary investigator for Cornwall Marine Pathology Team, carried out the post-mortem.

James told ITV West Country his initial findings concluded the shark suffered "severe traumatic damage to the soft tissue and cartilage of the left upper and lower jaw and one 5mm diameter hole running through the entire left lower lip and communicating with the oral cavity".

He added: "In our opinion, this was consistent with the shark having been caught on a hook, probably by a sports fisherman.

"There was also a clear rope mark around the base of the tail consistent with the animal being hoisted/dragged by a rope.

"The injury to the jaw would have occurred before the animal died. The rope mark is likely to have occurred after the animal died."

There has been an outpouring of anger at the shark's death on Cornwall Wildlife Trust's Facebook page, with people calling for "blood sports" to be banned and commenting that they are dismayed at people's ability to harm wildlife.

The charity has thanked it's team of volunteers for manning it's 24-hour hotline and especially to those who responded to go and retrieve the shark, so that a post-mortem could be carried out.