Is it legal to take teeth, fins from washashore porbeagle sharks? Here's what we know.

DENNIS — It's not unusual, when walking the beaches of Cape Cod, to come upon washashores from the bay or the open ocean. Some are hardly noticed — the husks of crabs, ray and skate egg casings, shells empty of their soft-bodied inhabitants.

Others attract more attention, bringing scientists and curiosity seekers alike — and sometimes ending up the talk of the town by word of mouth and social media.

Such was the case with the remains of a porbeagle shark recently found frozen on Cold Storage Beach in Dennis. Kathy Miller, a Brewster resident and a volunteer with the New England Coastal Wildlife Alliance, said when she heard about the frozen shark on the beach over the Feb. 4 weekend, she headed over to take a look.

"When I went down, there was the shark. It was not a fresh shark. It was laying there and people were there left and right taking pictures with it," she said.

By the end of the day, all of the teeth had been plucked out. The next morning she was asked to return to the beach to see if the shark was still there ahead of a visit from John Chisholm, an adjunct scientist with the Sharks, Fisheries Science and Emerging Technologies Program at New England Aquarium's Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life. He wanted to measure the shark and collect tissue samples.

"I ran down early that morning really quick and it was laying there just where it was the day before," she said.

But by the time Chisholm arrived, "the fins and the tail were gone," she said, noting Chisholm could not proceed with his data gathering for research, "even on measuring the length of this shark."

"A lot of people were very upset over what happened to the shark. It was just stunning to see it truncated so much. The pectoral fin, the dorsal fin and the tail were chopped off. It looked like swordfish steaks the way it was chopped," she said.

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It was also jarring to see the shark devoid of teeth, she said, looking gummy and elderly.

This left Miller wondering: what is allowed when it comes to taking parts from marine animals found washed ashore?

"The more I thought about it, the more I realized I don't even know the rules about shark fin and teeth taking," said Miller. "This should just all be knowledge for people that live here on the Cape. I think we need to be more educated."

Porbeagles legal to fish with a permit, but taking from carcasses is another story

Chisholm said porbeagle sharks are common off Massachusetts and can be found year-round; however, they are subject to management protections by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's fisheries division and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. Porbeagles are also listed as a protected species by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora in its "Appendix II."

According to NOAA, "the United States has agreed to increase protections and international trade monitoring for 12 shark species, including basking, porbeagle and hammerhead sharks."

The Convention on International Trade describes porbeagles as "a globally threatened, low-productivity shark that has been seriously overfished in major parts of its range primarily for international trade in meat and fins."

The organization says porbeagle meat "is among the most prized of all shark meat, particularly in Europe," and also notes "the large fins of porbeagles are used in the traditional Asian celebratory dish, shark fin soup. As a result, schools of porbeagle sharks are targeted, primarily by longline fishermen, while individuals taken incidentally are often kept as a valuable secondary catch."

In Massachusetts, Chisholm said, porbeagles "are legal to catch with the appropriate permit and minimum size of 54-inch fork length."

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Fork length refers to the length of a shark measured from the tip of its snout to the fork in its tail, taken along the length of the body and not following the curve of the body.

While anglers can catch porbeagles of a certain size with a permit, they are limited to keeping one caught porbeagle per trip, according to the state's saltwater fishing regulations. But, "it is illegal to take the fins of a shark, whether alive or dead," Chisholm said.

Capturing a shark, removing its fins and returning the rest to the ocean — called shark finning — has been federally prohibited since 1993.

State law adopted in 2014 also prohibits the possession, sale, trade and distribution of shark fins, either raw, dried or otherwise processed, although anyone who has a fishing permit can "separate a shark fin from a lawfully landed shark during the ordinary course of preparing the body of the shark for consumption, sale, trade or distribution; provided, however, that a shark fin so separated from the shark shall be immediately destroyed unless used by the person for the purposes of taxidermy.

Anyone who violates the law may face a fine of $500 to $1,000, up to 60 days in prison, or both; and anyone with a commercial or recreational license or permit who violates the law may also lose their license or permit.

Can you keep a protected species part found on the beach?

Aside from rules about capturing porbeagles and other sharks, there are also rules about taking parts from sharks found washed ashore.

According to NOAA Fisheries, in general, people can collect and keep any bones, teeth, or ivory from marine mammals found on a beach or land within a quarter of a mile of an ocean, bay or estuary if the animal is not on the federal Endangered Species Act list.

But, "you may not collect parts from a carcass or parts with soft tissues attached," the agency says.

According to the agency, any marine mammal bones, teeth or ivory that is collected must be identified and registered with the nearest NOAA Fisheries Regional Office. People can also contact the appropriate Stranding Network Coordinator in their region for assistance.

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"Marine mammal parts collected in this manner may not be bought or sold," the agency says.

Additionally, according to NOAA Fisheries, "a dead marine mammal with soft tissue is a stranded animal and you should report it to the nearest NOAA Fisheries Stranding Network Coordinator so that the animal may be sampled for scientific research purposes and properly disposed of. You may not collect parts from a stranded animal."

And parts from Endangered Species Act-listed species, including threatened or endangered species, cannot be collected without a permit or other authorization:

Because porbeagle was harvested, science is incomplete

Because the shark found on Cold Storage Beach was missing its fins, Chisholm said he wasn’t able to get accurate measurements. But he was able to tell it was a mature male.

"Although I couldn’t get an accurate size, based on estimated length this shark would be around 10 to 12 years old," he said.

While some surmised the shark succumbed to the extreme cold that opened its month, Chisholm said "porbeagles are built for the cold thanks to their ability to elevate their body temperature above the ambient water (temperature). They can tolerate water temps from mid-30s to low-70s."

So far this winter, he said, six porbeagles have washed ashore. Informing him about these findings is important.

"We investigate each case to try and determine cause of death," he said.

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Porbeagle sharks wash up every year, but this year is above average, Chisholm said, though there’s no working theory about why at this time.

"Sharks, including the porbeagle, strand for various reasons from illness and injury to just bad luck," he said.

The Massachusetts Environmental Police are investigating the taking of the shark's fins, he said.

Contact Heather McCarron at hmccarron@capecodonline.com.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Porbeagle shark body found frozen on Cold Storage Beach in Dennis