03/29/2006 Unknown Fisherman (Africa) **4-Fatal**

[sharkbait]

Sierra Leone Angler Catches 'Man Eating' Shark Responsible for Four Fisherman's Deaths

Freetown, Sierra Leone (Mar 29, 2006 18:05 EST) An amateur angler in Sierra Leone has caught a 300 kg (660 lb) shark that local fishermen say killed four of their colleagues at sea off the impoverished West African country.

Riad Hassan, a 61-year-old jeweller, said he caught the shark on Tuesday while fishing in Atlantic waters off Lumley Beach in the capital Freetown where sport fishermen more often catch barracuda, snapper and grouper fish.

"I realised that a very big fish had swallowed the bait, but definitely I was not expecting it to be a shark," Hassan told Reuters on Wednesday.

Hassan and another man fishing with him fought the shark for an hour before sighting the 9-foot (3-metre) fish.

"This is the shark that has killed four fishermen during the past two weeks," said local fisherman Samuel Friday, adding that some people had been afraid to go out in the small dugout canoes they use to fish around the estuary of the Sierra Leone river.

Hassan, who had a larger boat with an outboard motor, towed the shark back to harbour and gave it to local people to eat.

http://today.reuters.com