(CP) - Canada's only shark derbies get under way next weekend in Nova Scotia, with hundreds of anglers paying for a chance to land one of the top predators of the sea.
George Benham, president of the Lockeport Sea Derby, says hooking even a small shark is exhilarating.
But he says you have to treat them with respect - and keep your hands away from their mouth.
Virtually all of the sharks landed during the hunts will be blue sharks, the most abundant type off Nova Scotia.
But in 2004, a massive, thousand-pound shortfin mako shark was landed in Yarmouth.
The Canadian wing of Humane Society International, an animal welfare group, says shark derbies are ``cruel and problematic,'' and Benham admits some visitors don't like them.
But he says relatively few sharks are landed, and the federal Fisheries Department relies on the derbies for scientific research and maintains ownership of the carcasses.
Four shark hunts are scheduled for the next two weekends: two in Cape Breton and two along the province's southwest shore.
Last year, 460 participating fishermen caught a total of 49 sharks.