Carcharodon carcharias
One of the largest predatory sharks in the sea, with a conical snout, black eyes and serrated triangular teeth. It is Vulnerable, its capture is banned in Brazil, Mexico and Chile, and it should be left alone.
Also called: tubarão-branco
The white shark has a worldwide distribution and is one of the fish with the widest habitat range. It lives mostly on the continental shelf and around islands, often near the surf zone and inside shallow bays, but also crosses ocean areas. It is usually solitary or in pairs, and may gather with others in feeding areas. It eats bony fish, sharks, rays, seals, dolphins, seabirds, squid and carrion. It is ovoviviparous, with oophagy: the embryos eat eggs produced by the mother, and 7 to 14 pups of 120 to 150 cm are born. In the southwestern Atlantic it occurs from Brazil to Argentina and Uruguay, and in Brazil records are scattered. It is on the national list as Vulnerable (as it already was in 2022), is Vulnerable according to the IUCN, and is listed in Appendix II of CITES and in Appendices I and II of CMS. Capture is banned in Brazil, Mexico and Chile: if you hook one by accident, release it and move away.
A huge, spindle-shaped shark with a conical, blunt snout, clearly visible black eyes and a large mouth with triangular, serrated-edged teeth. Lead grey to brown or black on top, lighter on the flanks and white below, with a sharp boundary between the two colors; a black patch at the rear base of the pectoral fin. The first dorsal fin usually starts above the inner edge of the pectoral, and the tail is crescent-shaped. The mako (Isurus oxyrinchus) is slimmer, with a long, pointed snout and thin, smooth teeth; the porbeagle (Lamna nasus) is much smaller and has a white patch on the tip of the first dorsal fin.
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Each card shows the day's index (0 to 100) and, below it, a strip with the index for each hour, from 0h to 23h. from poor to excellent.
Worldwide, from cold to tropical waters. In the southwestern Atlantic FishBase lists Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina; records in Brazil are scattered and we did not check them region by region, so all coasts are shown. In the eastern Pacific, the FishBase country list includes Mexico, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Chile.
Habitat: Continental shelf and islands, often near the surf zone and in shallow bays, and also open sea; 0 to 250 m most of the time.
coast
Estimate: in Brazil the presence is rare and unpredictable, with no known season. Capture is banned at any time of year.
Any time. No study of daily timing for Brazil in the sources checked. Hunts by day and by night, with no known peak hour (estimate).
Tolerates 5 to 25 °C (FishBase), one of the widest ranges among fish.
Little known effect.
No study for Brazil.
Little known effect.
Not applicable at sea.
No study for Brazil.
Little direct effect.
Enters shallow bays and areas near the surf, where the tide moves its prey (estimate).
From the surface to 250 m most of the time.
accessories
Capture banned in Brazil. If a white shark bites by accident, do not try to bring it aboard or touch it: keep it in the water, cut the line as close to the mouth as possible and move away from the line.
Summary of the regulations we found, with the source for each. Rules change; before keeping or transporting fish, check with the state environmental agency.
Conservation: Capture banned throughout Brazil. It was already on the previous list (Portaria MMA 148/2022) as VU. Global assessment: Vulnerable (IUCN, 07/11/2018). Listed in Appendix II of CITES and Appendices I and II of CMS (according to FishBase).
The national list (Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.667/2026) classifies the species as VU. Under Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.666/2026 (art. 3º), VU, EN and CR species have full protection: catch, transport, storage, processing and sale are banned. If you hook one by accident, release it at once, handling it as little as possible.
Source: Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.666/2026, art. 3º, and Portaria GM/MMA nº 1.667/2026
NOM-029-PESC-2006 (responsible fishing of sharks and rays) prohibits, in any case, catching and retaining the white shark (Carcharodon carcharias), sawfishes (Pristis perotteti, P. pectinata and P. microdon), whale shark, basking shark and giant mantas. A specimen caught by chance must go back into the water; it may not be retained alive, dead, whole or in parts, nor eaten or sold (section 4.2.2). The text is addressed to holders of shark and ray fishing permits and to those who catch them incidentally (section 1.2); sport fishing has its own rule, NOM-017-PESC-1994. When in doubt, release it.
Decree nº 81 of 13/03/2009 (Subsecretaría de Pesca) permanently bans, in all waters under Chilean jurisdiction, catching whale shark, white shark and basking shark with fatal results and keeping them alive, and bans trading, transporting, processing and storing these species, alive or dead, whole or in parts (art. 1). Art. 2 allows catching the white shark only in cases of serious and imminent risk to people's lives and safety. The text does not expressly ban catch followed by release, but do not seek out the species.
In 2021 Colombia stopped treating marine sharks and rays as fishery resources (AUNAP Resolution 0380/2021) and began treating them as hydrobiological resources; the recitals of Decree 281/2021 say they may not be extracted for commercial or sport purposes, and the decree creates an environmental protection plan and sets who enforces it. The articles include no list of species or sizes, and we did not check later AUNAP rules on incidental catch. When in doubt, release it in the water.
Executive Decree nº 486 of 20/07/2007 bans, throughout the national territory, fishing whose specific target is shark (art. 2) and finning (art. 5). Art. 9 requires that the white shark, whale shark, basking shark, sardinero shark and mielga (spurdog) be returned immediately to the sea when caught as bycatch, but art. 17 limited that article to six months in force, and we did not check whether it was reissued or changed later. Confirm with Ecuador's fisheries authority.
Source: Decreto Ejecutivo nº 486, of Jul 20, 2007, arts. 2º, 5º, 9º and 17 (Presidency of Ecuador)
Federal Fisheries Council Resolution 8/2021 (Consejo Federal Pesquero) bans directed fishing for chondrichthyans (sharks, rays and chimaeras), finning (cutting off the fins and discarding the body) and the use of gaffs to return live animals to the sea, and requires that sharks caught by chance be returned quickly and with minimal trauma, except cazón, gatuzo, pez ángel, espinoso and pintarroja. The text refers to trips and vessels, that is, the federal commercial fleet, and invites the provinces to adopt similar measures. For sport anglers, good practice is to release the shark in the water, without a gaff.
If it bites by accident, do not bring it aboard or touch it: the animal is large and dangerous. Leave it in the water, cut the line flush with the mouth and move the boat away; do not try to remove the hook. Never swim or dive near a hooked white shark.
Capture and trade banned in Brazil. FishBase records use of the meat (fresh, salted and dried or smoked), the skin, the liver and the fins. Do not buy.
Length-weight relationship W = a·Lb (a = 0.00871, b = 3.05; FishBase (relação peso-comprimento bayesiana, estimativa da própria espécie)). It's an average: a fat or lean fish can vary by 10% to 20%.
estimated weight
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The season factors (months), the time of day, and the sensitivities (cold, pressure, moon, wind, rain, tide, strong light, murky water, and noise) are editorial estimates by the app, based on the literature cited below and on field experience of anglers and guides. They are not official data or measurements made for this species and may vary by region and year. Closed seasons and legal rules appear in the rules section, with the standard and link. The months indicate when the species is usually found near the coast or at the fishing spot, not a catch season. The water temperature range is also an editorial estimate, supported by FishBase values where they exist.
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