A beachside community is in uproar after footage surfaced of a man allegedly catching and killing an endangered and protected grey nurse shark.
The video was taken along the rocky coastline on Terrigal Haven, on NSW’s Central Coast, and recently circulated among shocked locals.
It showed the unnamed man standing in just his board shorts as he held the creature by its tail before celebrating the catch.
The species is considered ‘critically endangered’ by the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and was caught at one of the few spots where they feed and reproduce.
They are renowned for their placid nature and, with fewer than 3,000 remaining along the nation’s east coast, have a ‘very low potential for population recovery’.
A local community has been left furious after a man was caught on camera allegedly catching and killing a critically endangered grey nurse shark (pictured)
Witnesses said they saw the shark, which was almost the same size as the man, being hauled over rocks with lethal force.
The footage was shared among members of a local swimming club who meet where the shark was allegedly caught.
One member, Katie, described the video as ‘pretty gruesome’ and claimed the man ‘knew what he was doing’.
‘From the video, the guy clearly knows what he has caught,’ she told Yahoo.
‘And by the sound of what he says and what he does, had no intention to return it to the water.’
The spot is well-known known by locals as a gathering place for the species – called an aggregation area – but isn’t officially recognised as one by the NSWDPI.
Another local, Nada, said the incident could ‘bring the area closer to being protected’ and reported the incident to the department.
The video was taken at Terrigal Haven, a rocky coastline along NSW’s Central Coast (pictured)
Other grey nurse shark aggregation locations recognised by the NSWDPI restrict the types of fishing, such as line or spear, or outright bans the activity.
A NSWDPI spokesperson confirmed they received a report on Thursday but are still investigating the incident.
Interfering with a protected species, including grey nurse sharks, can incur a $500 on the spot fine or a maximum penalty of $110,000 and/or two years imprisonment.
The department found ‘interfering’ as including ‘harassing, chasing, tagging, marking or engaging in any activity for the purposes of attracting or repelling’.
A number of the species have been killed accidentally by fisherman or in shark nets, or intentionally by those in the illegal shark fin market.
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