Shark - Milk

Dispatch Method:

Beware of the sharp teeth of sharks when handling them. The eating qualities of milk sharks can be improved by killing them humanely by iki jime or a firm knock to the head before placing them in an ice slurry after bleeding.

Fish Description:

• A small shark, bronze to light grey above becoming white below with a sharp snout, relatively large eyes and no body markings except for occasional dark margin on the upper caudal fin. Origin of second dorsal fin well behind the anal fin.
  
• Females mature at around 70-80 cm (2.5 feet) long and can live for at least 8 years, producing litters of 1-10 pups every year.
  
• Milk sharks eat mainly fishes and crustaceans.
  
• This species is relatively harmless, though they can inflict a nasty bite if handled carelessly.

Fish Distribution:

• Milk sharks occur throughout tropical and warm temperate oceans in both the Atlantic (N. brevirostris), and Indo-Pacific (N. acutidens).
  
• Juveniles can occur in estuaries up into freshwater reaches, while adults frequent shallow inshore waters as well as offshore at depths of at least 1000 m (3000 feet).

Fish Size Common Length:

Common between 50 and 100 cm (2-3 feet) long, maximum size around 135 cm (4 feet 6 inches) and 5 kg (10 pounds).