Philippine fishermen net and eat rare megamouth shark

One of the world's rarest sharks ends up in the pot after being accidentally caught in fishing nets in south-east Asia.

Fishermen in the Philippines accidentally caught a megamouth shark, one of the rarest fish in the world and later ate it after it had been identified. Only 40 other sightings of the shark have ever been recorded, according to the World Wildlife Fund.



The 500kg, four metre megamouth (Megachasma pelagios) died while struggling in the fishermen's net on 30 March off Burias island in the central Philippines. It was taken to nearby Donsol in Sorsogon province, said Gregg Yan, a spokesman for WWF-Philippines.

WWF project manager, Elson Aca, took pictures of the megamouth and tried to dissuade the fishermen from eating it. However, they went against his advice and made a local speciality dish called kinunot - shark meat sauteed in coconut milk.