Shark - Spinner

Dispatch Method:

Beware of the sharp teeth of sharks when handling them. The eating qualities of spinner sharks less than 120 cm (4 feet) long 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. Sharks larger than around 120 cm (4 feet) long should be dispatched with a captive bolt tool or firearm (with appropriate safety precautions).

Fish Description:

• A highly athletic medium size shark, with a dark grey body, white to yellowish white belly, pointed snout and black tips or margins on most fins, including the anal fin (absent in blacktip sharks).
  
• Spinner sharks feed mainly on fishes, and cephalopods, using vertical spinning leaps out of the water as a feeding technique.
  
• Females mature at around 7-8 years old and 180 cm/6 feet long. They can live for around 16 years producing litters of 3 to 20 young.
  
• Spinner sharks are highly active and large ones may be dangerous to humans if provoked.

Fish Distribution:

• Spinner sharks occur throughout tropical and warm temperate waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans as well as the Mediterranean Sea.
  
• They frequent continental shelfs from estuaries and close inshore to about 100 m (300 feet) depth.

Fish Size Common Length:

Common between 150 and 240 cm (5-8 feet) long, maximum size around 300 cm (10 feet) long and over 120 kg (250 pounds).