What to do if you accidentally caught a Shark in Dubai
Ocealics Fishing Tours
“Sharks are beautiful animals, and if you’re lucky enough to see lots of them, that means that you’re in a healthy ocean. You should be afraid if you are in the ocean and don’t see sharks.”.
- Sylvia Earle
With about 72 km of coastline off the Emirate of Dubai, Dubai has become a popular destination for anglers and fishermen. The waters of Dubai inhabit a variety of species of sharks, which are occasionally and unintentionally hooked by anglers.
Whether you have obtained a recreational fishing permit or you decided to onboard a deep sea fishing charter such as Ocealics, it is important to note that it is not permitted to catch and keep any species of sharks in Dubai.
However, what to do with sharks hooked unintentionally?
Every now and then, on our fishing trips in Dubai, we accidentally hook a shark or two, especially during summertime. If you accidentally hook a shark while fishing in Dubai, there are two possible scenarios. Below are the scenarios, and the corrective course of action in each scenario in line with the Ministerial Decision No. 43 of 2019 on Regulating the Fishing and Trading of Sharks.
Scenario 1: The Shark is healthy enough to be returned to sea
It is the responsibility of every angler to put in best efforts to ensure that any accidentally caught fish remains in the healthiest possible shape. Where the accidentally hooked shark is healthy enough to be returned to sea, it shall be put back into the water head down first, and then given a few moments in a horizontal position to recover its strength and swim away. This is known as releasing sharks.
Scenario 2: The Shark is NOT healthy enough to be returned to sea
If -for any reason-, the accidentally caught shark was not healthy enough to be returned to sea, the shark carcass must be kept by the angler (or fishing charter in case of booking your fishing trip through a fishing tour operator) for the duration of the fishing activity. After fishing, the shark carcass must be delivered to the relevant Government entity (i.e., the Regulatory Committee on Fishing of Living Aquatic Resources in Dubai). The committee may be contacted with regards to the incident on the following e-mail address:
<p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: rgb(94, 94, 94); font-family: Lato, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><strong class="x-el x-el-span c2-3i c2-3j c2-3 c2-5a c2-3r c2-2b c2-5b" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Lato, arial, sans-serif; font-weight: 700; letter-spacing: inherit; text-transform: inherit; color: inherit; font-size: inherit !important; line-height: inherit;">What to do if you accidentally caught a Shark in Dubai</strong></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: rgb(94, 94, 94); font-family: Lato, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Ocealics Fishing Tours</span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: rgb(94, 94, 94); font-family: Lato, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;"><em class="x-el x-el-span c2-3i c2-3j c2-3 c2-5a c2-3r c2-3o c2-5b c2-5c" style="box-sizing: inherit; font-family: Lato, arial, sans-serif; letter-spacing: inherit; text-transform: inherit; font-weight: inherit; color: inherit; font-size: inherit !important; line-height: inherit; font-style: italic;">“Sharks are beautiful animals, and if you’re lucky enough to see lots of them, that means that you’re in a healthy ocean. You should be afraid if you are in the ocean and don’t see sharks.”.</em></span></p><p style="box-sizing: inherit; margin: 0px; color: rgb(94, 94, 94); font-family: Lato, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">- Sylvia Earle</span></p>
With about 72 km of coastline off the Emirate of Dubai, Dubai has become a popular destination for anglers and fishermen. The waters of Dubai inhabit a variety of species of sharks, which are occasionally and unintentionally hooked by anglers.
Whether you have obtained a recreational fishing permit or you decided to onboard a deep sea fishing charter such as Ocealics, it is important to note that it is not permitted to catch and keep any species of sharks in Dubai.
However, what to do with sharks hooked unintentionally?
Every now and then, on our fishing trips in Dubai, we accidentally hook a shark or two, especially during summertime. If you accidentally hook a shark while fishing in Dubai, there are two possible scenarios. Below are the scenarios, and the corrective course of action in each scenario in line with the Ministerial Decision No. 43 of 2019 on Regulating the Fishing and Trading of Sharks.
Scenario 1: The Shark is healthy enough to be returned to sea
It is the responsibility of every angler to put in best efforts to ensure that any accidentally caught fish remains in the healthiest possible shape. Where the accidentally hooked shark is healthy enough to be returned to sea, it shall be put back into the water head down first, and then given a few moments in a horizontal position to recover its strength and swim away. This is known as releasing sharks.
Scenario 2: The Shark is NOT healthy enough to be returned to sea
If -for any reason-, the accidentally caught shark was not healthy enough to be returned to sea, the shark carcass must be kept by the angler (or fishing charter in case of booking your fishing trip through a fishing tour operator) for the duration of the fishing activity. After fishing, the shark carcass must be delivered to the relevant Government entity (i.e., the Regulatory Committee on Fishing of Living Aquatic Resources in Dubai). The committee may be contacted with regards to the incident on the following e-mail address: