Prawn trawlerman nets 7ft shark

The porbeagle shark's fins will be sold to make soup

A fisherman trawling for prawns in the North Sea ended up netting a 7ft shark by mistake.

The porbeagle shark, a species more often spotted in the sea around Cornwall, was caught about 10 miles (16km) off the North Tyneside coast.

It will now be cut up and sold at a fishmongers store on the North Shields Fish Quay.

Tony Asiamah, of Seaview Fisheries, described the flesh as similar to meat as it cooked and tasted like pork.

He said that it was the second such shark he had encountered in the past month, as they occasionally turned up at the end of the salmon season.

"They are a deep water fish, and this boat was trawling for prawns and this was in the net," he said.

"There's a lot of meat on it, but you can't eat the head so a lot of it gets wasted.

"However, a Chinese lad is coming down to buy the fins for soup."