SAN ANTONIO (USA)- What do you do with a shark caught? Release it into the wild of course. But not everyone cares so much for living creatures. A San Antonio angler got stuck with a 800 pounds tiger shark. And decided to give its meat to the homeless. It’s better than leaving it dead in the ocean, but still it seems an awful waste.
The San Antonio-based angler caught the shark fishing with his father in the Gulf of Mexico. The 12-foot 7-inch shark managed to pull the boat for 15 miles before the men were able to drag it back toward the shore. It took about a dozen men to heave the animal onto the dock.
Meat donated
They caught seven more sharks that day on the trip, which they all released alive back into the sea. Why he took the big tiger shark to land he didn’t explain. About 75 pounds of the meat was donated to Timon’s Ministries in Corpus Christi, where a volunteer cook reportedly breaded and then baked the shark steaks for about 90 homeless people.
Urea
Tiger shark’s aren’t known for especially tasty meat. Like many species of sharks, they produce urea to help them maintain osmotic balance with seawater. When they die, their bodies start excreting that urea through the skin, which gives off strong ammonia odors and can taint the flavor of the meat with a top note of hot urine.
Shark stew
This particular shark, however, was edible enough. Kae Berry, the executive director of the organization, told the San Antonio Express-News that those who ate it enjoyed it. The leftovers, Berry said, will be turned into shark stew.
Tiger shark hunting is legal in Texas, but the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department notes that “[anglers] in Texas are allowed one shark per person per day with a two-shark possession limit.”