The Dorsal Fin

The past few weeks have generated negative sentiment toward Rosie O’Donnell among some online conservation groups for photos that recently surfaced on Mark “The Shark” Quartiano’s website. A photo featuring O’Donnell and some of her family members posing with a hammerhead shark they caught, recently appeared after Quartiano named O’Donnell “This Month’s Celebrity Angler.”

The shark seen in the photo at the center of the controversy appears to be a great hammerhead shark (Sphyrna mokarran). The great hammerhead is listed as an endangered species on the IUCN Red List. Despite the endangered status of the species, it was not until January 1 of this year that it became illegal to kill great hammerhead sharks in Florida state waters.

Until this week the criticism was limited to online social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter. However, it seems that the major media has picked up the story this week. Several media outlets based in Miami are reporting on the story, as are a handful of international media outlets.

O’Donnell has responded via Twitter that the photo was “taken years ago” and occurred before the regulations were put into effect banning the killing of hammerhead sharks. Quartiano told Miami’s WSVN-TV that conservationists are targeting the wrong person, noting that as a result of commercial fishing operations “metric tons of sharks being killed daily right outside of our coast.”

According to a release from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) the harvest of tiger sharks (Galeocerdo cuvier), great hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna mokarran), scalloped hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna lewini), and smooth hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna zygaena) will be prohibited in state waters. The measure, which was voted on today, will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2012.

The measure will also prohibit the “possession, sale and exchange” of any of the four species that are taken from state waters. However, the species may still be caught on a catch and release basis. The measure applies only to state waters and does not prohibit the harvest of these four species in adjacent federal waters.

According to an article from the Miami Herald, the Florida Fisheries and Wildlife Commission adopted a new set of rules to protect shark species in Florida waters. The rules which take effect in mid-January include.

• protection of sandbar, silky, and Caribbean sharpnose sharks in state waters from harvesting
• Establishing a 54″ minimum fork length for all sharks caught, with the exception of Atlantic sharpnose, blacknose, bonnethead, finetooth, smooth dogfish and blacktip sharks
• Prohibiting the removal of a shark’s head or caudal fin at sea
• Allowing only hook-and-line gear for shark harvesting