California IN BRIEF : OXNARD : Fisherman Lands 17-Foot Shark

A commercial fisherman’s hunt for swordfish off the Channel Islands turned into a victorious battle with a 17-foot great white shark that weighed more than 2,000 pounds when sold from an Oxnard wharf Thursday. Tad Galey, 25, of Oxnard, landed the prize catch by harpoon on his 37-foot boat after a three-hour test of wills Wednesday evening. “Every time his tail hit the boat, it shook it like it was nothing,” said first mate Tom Post. An airplane pilot hired to spot swordfish for Galey notified him at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday that he had sighted a great white about seven miles west of Anacapa Island. Galey and Post reached the location half an hour later. At 6 p.m., the pair succeeded in landing the shark. Though rarely caught, large great whites are sometimes seen near the Channel Islands. Last year a Ventura fisherman landed a 15-foot, 2,500-pound great white off Santa Cruz Island. Thursday, Galey contacted a Los Angeles fish wholesaler while returning to his slip at Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard. The wholesaler paid him more than $1,000 for the shark, minus jaws and tail, he said. The body weighed about 2,000 pounds, he said.