Basking shark / mangĹŤ reremai
Growing up to at least 9 metres, with reports up to12 metres in length, the basking shark is the second largest fish after the whale shark. It is mostly seen around the South Island and lower half of the North Island swimming slowly at the surface with mouth wide open to filter small planktonic animals from the water.
Satellite tagging studies in the North Atlantic have shown that some basking sharks migrate across the equator between 300 – 1000 m depth, raising the possibility that Northern and Southern Hemisphere populations are connected by migration.
A recent genetic study estimated the effective global population size to be less than 10,000 individuals. The IUCN Red List assesses basking sharks as Vulnerable globally, and Endangered in the Northeast Atlantic and Northwest Pacific.
Basking sharks (Cetorhinus maximus) are considered to be extremely vulnerable to exploitation.
New Zealand is a member state of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). By ratifying this Convention New Zealand acknowledged the importance of conserving migratory species, and agreed to take action to protect such species wherever appropriate and possible.
New Zealand subsequently made a commitment to establishing protection measures for the basking shark in 2008, through publication of the National Plan of Action-Sharks (NPOA-Sharks).
New Zealand currently manages basking sharks through the Fisheries Act 1996, although the species is not within the quota management system (QMS). Fishers can legally utilise incidental captures of basking sharks, but targeting this species is not permitted. By continuing to allow such utilisation of basking sharks, New Zealand will not fulfil its obligations to the CMS.
(Courtesy of DoC)
Mako Shark
There are two kinds of Mako sharks: short and long fin Mako.Short-finned mako are the fastest of all the sharks and are the more common of the two. Muscular and powerful with a stiff body, they weigh up to half a tonne. They have long, curved teeth and feed on fish, including large sharks. Mako is a Maori name used all around the world to describe this species of Shark. A pretty cool shark and one we are proud to have as ‘Shark of the month’!
There are two kinds of mako sharks: short fin makos, and long fin makos.Â
Whale Shark
The Whale Shark is the largest fish in the world! It eats plankton. There have been sightings of whale sharks up to 15 m long in NZ waters! It’s usually seen in northern coastal waters during the summer. One was seen off the Astrolabe Reef in Tauranga last year – hope there aren’t any around there at the moment.
A Whale Shark’s fin can be worth $20,000-100,000(US)! Do you think the $300 “Sauted Shark’s Fin with Egg” dish currently for sale at the Grand Harbour Restaurant (Auckland Viaduct) could be a portion of a Whale Shark?
Whale Sharks, Great Whites and Basking Sharks are listed on Appendix 2 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES; www.cites.org/)
