Except the crays would have been spawners or setose big girls. Sharks didn't seem to go them though. Looked more interested in the bait.

The crays would have to swim very fast so as to not get eaten eh. Lucky sharks I reckon.
From first hand knowledge it is the old bait scraps that attract the sharks to the boat.
I have been out on cray boats and seen first hand what was being tossed over the side.
Apart from the cackers there was the old bait and cardboard bait boxes. The sharks ate the bloody lot. They would follow the boat from pot to pot with the same thing happening. Real feeding frenzies at times. You wouldn't want to fall in that's for sure.

They didn't seem to being smashing them as soon as they hit the water. Maybe most the sharks were already full or waiting for the bait scraps?

Your probably right that they were eating them, but it did seem they showed more interest in the bait scraps than the Crays.

Still wouldn't wasn't to be one of them Crays :-O

Good footage. Thanks for sharing.

Happens behind the boats most of the time, sharks will follow boats as they know food will come.

That just shows how many of the bloody things are out there.

If you want to have some fun, throw a bait behind a cray boat!

I watched the video and also wondered.

Lots of produce there for fish and chip shops.

 I've worked on boats for years and there are always tons of sharks following the boat espeshly in deep water.. Last year in deep water we had up to 50 sharks following the boat..

The sharks eat the scraps and try go the birds but I've never seen one eat a cray they are not interested in them intact seem scared of them.. Same with dolphins you can't even trick them into eating crays.. 

Belly

I lost some brain cells reading that article, what a pair of boneheads. 8m White?, More sharks because of limited commercial catch quotas making them come closer to shore? What are they smoking!

The time I spent on a cray boat I never once saw a shark eat a cray.

while we all know big boats will attract predators that follow up for scraps as they go overboard or catch as it comes onboard , that video is exactly the sort of thing that does fishing harm

for guys who often claim to care about the sustainability of fishing & the environment its a endittment of their attitude to not have thought out a better solution to getting as many crays back down to the bottom in one piece as possible from the boat & show a bit of initiative with getting fisheries to improve return survival rates of lobster

maybe a waterslide chute set up deeper down under the sharks , or keep em in live tanks until the end of each set , crank up the revs and move away 2-3 k , then release , where predation is less

I hope fisheries acts on this to make some changes

these commercial guys have 95% of the resource its pi$$ poor to see that type of thing , even if its in the minority

hezzy

 there was heaps following the trawlers when i worked for tiger fisheries back in 92 at rankin bank, use to bend up some stainless rod for a hook n put a hole ling on, catch 10ft bronzes, swing them up on the winch.

 here here hezzy, i totally agree, he might as well fed it them.

The people that are responsible for this video are total idiots! Their industry is under a very watchful eye, no doubt their low IQ paves way for ignorance, arrogance or total disconnection from that fact. 

 I was out last Thursday chasing KG's in 40 meters and had a group of sharks come up to the boat, swimming arround. They wouldnt bugger off. I had to move. First time I have had a pack of sharks at the boat in metro waters.

 Hey Hezzy I'm a bit confused did you not read the previous posts before you wrote yours. The sharks don't eat the crays mate. They most likely all survive.

tapout ,

I hope you get over your confusion

,I read what you wrote ,that's your experience,
cray boats iv been on it hasn't been an issue before either ,

however looking at the video mate it seems pretty clear what is going on ,things have changed in regards to shark numbers in the last few years ,if anyone thinks that the best way to return a cray to the water , then we are in trouble
hezzy

 Sorry mate I thought your post was stateing that we need to get the crays away from the sharks to increase there survival rate. I was mearly pointing out the fact that the sharks don't touch the crays so the sharks are no threat to the survival rate of the returned crays. As for the increase in sharks I've never been on a cray boat that dosnt have a pack of sharks following it. Been happening for years. Bronzes are not protected so maybe introduce some shark fishing vessels to cull there numbers in some areas like Exmouth for instance.