SCARBOROUGH, Tobago, CMC – The Tobago House of Assembly (THA) has revoked a decision to offer TT$10,000 (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents) to registered fishermen who can capture the bull shark that severely injured British visitor Peter Smith on Friday.
At a news conference late Saturday night, THA Chief Secretary Farley Augustine told reporters there was “some confusion” regarding the reward.
“During the day, a bounty offered TT$10,000 to registered fishers who could help us capture the bull shark. In some jurisdictions, they refer to it as rescuing the bull shark, meaning being able to remove it from where it can cause harm to individuals and put it in a place where it can’t cause harm to individuals.
“So because there is some confusion over the bounty that is out, I have asked for the advertisement to be retracted, effective immediately, and I have asked that the fishers work along with the Coast Guard, divers, and other stakeholders to operate the area expertly,” Augustine told reporters.
Augustine said the Department of Marine Resources would continue to monitor the space, saying, “We are monitoring from marine resources along the affected areas, and that will continue across the weekend and into the foreseeable future to ensure that we can treat the matter in the most responsible manner possible.”
Smith has undergone multiple surgeries at the Scarborough General Hospital since Friday and is reported to be in a stable condition. He has also undergone a blood transfusion as doctors saved his limbs, and his wounds were closed and treated.
Smith sustained severe injuries to his left hand, left thigh, and stomach after a bullshark attacked him while he was bathing at Courland Bay, also known as Turtle Beach.
Augustine said he had contacted the British High Commission about the incident at 9.15 a.m. (local time), 10 meters from the shore.
‘We are working together to ensure that Mr. Smith comes out of this safely and can return home from Tobago and continue with his life as far as possible,” he added.
He gave the shark’s size as eight to 10 feet in length and two feet in width.
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