A CRITICALLY endangered 54-pound shark has been hooked off the coast of Barmouth.

A group of Bala fisherman made the astonishing catch on Saturday reeling in a rare angel shark.

The shark, which can grow up to two-and-a-half metres, has been increasingly spotted in Welsh coastal waters in recent years with scientists from Natural Resources Wales and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) hoping to keep track of the numbers of indigenous fish in Cardigan Bay.

Skipper of the Viking Princess charter boat from Barmouth John Johnson pulled in the monster shark – with the help of Paul Johnson and Grenville Watts – and removed two rusty hooks and a set of mackerel feathers before returning the beast to the water.

Paul Johnson talked the Cambrian News through the catch: “The fish was caught on an eight-hour trip from Barmouth with a group of fishermen from Bala.

“We’ve never landed a shark that size before, we’ve pulled something very heavy up before now but it snapped the line by the surface before we could get a picture.

“We were fishing for tope but were surprised to see the angel shark, there has only been a handful of sightings around here.”