Savannah Woman sets Georgia State Record for Tiger Shark

Helmut Nickel, Shark Year Magazine,
09. July 2012

Date: 03. June 2012

Location: Georgia, USA.

Species: Tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier).

Weight: 190 lbs 0 oz

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources has recently certified a new women’s state record for tiger sharks with a 190 lbs specimen caught on June 3rd. Pam Page of Savannah was the angler who reeled in the fish near Artificial Reef JY. The current Georgia Saltwater Gamefish Record in the men’s division is a 794 lbs tiger shark that was caught by Chuck Hall a long time ago (1975).

Source and Photo Credit: The Coastal Courier, Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

9 Comments

  1. Pam Page

    I am the shark winner and want to thank you for putting in this article. I want to know how to get a hardcopy of your magazine

    Thanks
    Pam Page

  2. Grace

    You are sooo awesome !!

  3. Lukas

    Why would you catch such a big tiger shark and not release it Page??

    You should be aware of the fact that especially big specimens like the one you caught are highly important to the reproduction of an endangered species.

    There is no reason whatsoever for you to be proud about your catch.

    By the way, I am a fisherman myself for 15 years.

  4. Captain Chris Page

    Congratulations Lukas,

    Your the first moron to post  a negative comment about the new Women’s State Record Tiger Shark.  The tiger shark that Pam caught is not highly important to the reproduction of an endangered species because tiger sharks are not an endangered species!!!!  So much for your fact.

     She has every reason to be proud of her catch and you should be embarrassed to post a comment without having any idea of what your talking about.  Just because you fish doesn’t make you a sportsman and just because you post ignorant comments doesn’t make you a conservationist.

    The SAFMC has some open seats to fill if you think you could bring something of value to the panel and I’m sure the Georgia DNR would be all ears to hear what you have to say.  You should probably brush up on your Federal and State fishing laws, regulations and conservation efforts ahead of time so you don’t continue to make yourself look like an idiot.

    • Lukas

      You were right and wrong about my comment.

      I was wrong to say that the tiger shark is an endangered species because on an international scale this species is categorized as “near threatened”.

      Various research over the last decades ranging back to the 1980s and further suggest that shark populations on the east coast declined by more than 80%. The tiger shark listed with a decline of up to 97% in 2005.  This is one of the reasons why many shark fishermen (sportsmen) increasingly practice catch and release.

      Obviously it is legal to catch tiger sharks, otherwise this photo probably would not have appeared online. Only because the state and federal law allow you to catch a shark like this does not make it right. If you know that a local species has declined rapidly over the last decades and the specimens you catch are important to the ecosystem and their reproduction (no matter if its global status is near threatened) your common sense should tell you to release the shark. If she had done so I would have congratulated her.

      I am a conservationist and a sportsman. Not because I post comments but because I engage in scientific expeditions to tag sharks and tuna, study biology, and dedicate a lot of time to fishing and local fishing education. Despite what you might think I am not ignorant and if you have solid arguments I let myself be convinced for sure.

      By the way, calling people moron and idiot let your statements lose credibility.

  5. Shark Researcher

    Thank you Lukas for bringing up this issue. You are absolutely right– killing a mature Tiger shark like this one is detrimental to their already dwindling populations. It is truly disgusting that people are proud of killing such important marine predators. Pam and “Captain Chris Page,” you should be ashamed of yourselves. Not only for your greed, but your complete lack of respect and understanding for the marine ecosystem. I hope in the future you will catch and release rather than take an innocent life so that you may display it as your trophy. If you wish for Tiger sharks like this one to survive in the ocean over the next 10-20 years, you will catch and release in the future.

  6. Pam Page

    Well I am sorry you are both so negative. I would like to inform you that the meat was donated to a Mission which was able to feed many needy people who otherwise would have not had a meal. This was a very special time for me and no  matter what you both have to say I am proud of my catch.  I grew up in a hunting and fishing family and we believe if  you kill it you eat it.  We also do tag and release many species of fish and are very big on preserving the Eco System.  If this was such species on the decline the shark record would not even have been available for me to try to beat.  There are many tournaments through out the world which are not catch and release and the meat is used to help others. I guess neither of you have ever been to the IGFA because if you had you would be aware that there are records from all over the world and that I am sure they did not have simple minded men harass a woman for her catch.

  7. Robert Vahle

    Thanks, one less shark out there to harm swimmers and surfers. Kill them all.

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