1,000-Pound, 14-Foot Shark Caught in Texas; Fishermen Battled for 90 Minutes To Capture the Hammerhead

A huge hammerhead shark was caught in Texas. However, it wasn't an easy battle as the anglers had to reel the enormous fish for over an hour.

Giant Hammerhead Shark Caught in Texas

On Friday, two fishermen reeled a 14-foot and 4-inch long shark while fishing on Padre Island, southern Texas. The fish weighed nearly 1,000 pounds.

Glenn Laskowski Jr., one of the anglers, told local news KIII that it was a battle back and forth for 90 minutes, Newsweek reported. When they were able to land the fish, they were surprised to see its actual size. It was reportedly a "monster."

They quickly dehooked the hammerhead and took some photos before releasing it. One photo shared on Facebook showed that the fish was nearly twice as tall as the fishermen.

In a separate post, Laskowski said they tried their best to let the shark go. However, after a long battle, the hammerhead didn't make it.

Nevertheless, he and his partner considered themselves blessed to have had a close encounter with such a monstrous sharkUnfortunately, the massive fish didn't make it alive back into the waters. However, the netizens were supportive of Laskowski.

Jason W Jenkins said they saw Laskowski and his partner reeling the massive shark, and they would have helped had they known what they were dealing with. Jenkins said sometimes things don't work and hammers die. He cheered Laskowski to keep doing what they do.

Vilma Villegas said their catch was amazing. Jacon Renck said it was a "solid fish." Victoria Flores said the giant hammerhead was "awesome" and congratulated the anglers.

Is Catching Hammerhead in Texas Prohibited?

Hammerheads are the largest of the nine species of shark. They can grow up to 20 feet long and weigh up to 1,280 pounds.

Their population has declined worldwide due to overfishing deliberately and as bycatch. Also, they only breed once every two years, so their population struggles.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural (IUCN) estimates that the great hammerhead population has dropped between 60 and 62 percent in the past three generations or 70 years.

However, they are not at risk of going extinct, according to NOAA Fisheries in 2014. In Texas, catching the great hammerheads is not prohibited despite them being classified as "critically endangered." However, Texas Parks and Wildlife rules that hammerheads must be at a minimum length of 99 inches to be caught and retained.

The majority of the population declined happened in the 1980s before any significant management regulations were in place to protect the fish. The current regulatory measures have helped minimize the threat and prevented the decline of the hammerheads' population, making them unlikely to become extinct.

NOAA Fisheries predicted that hammer sharks are unlikely to be at risk of extinction due to their abundance and productivity trends.

Check out more news and information on Sharks in Science Times.