New shark regulations may be coming

Ed Killer | Treasure Coast Newspapers

Show Caption Hide Caption Massive hammerhead shark hunts blacktip sharks off the coast of Palm Beach County Anglers Evan Parness, Blake Plemmons and Chase Reyes of Coral Springs shot this drone video of a large hammerhead shark hunting Sunday in a school of blacktip sharks just off John D. MacArthur Beach State Park in northern Palm Beach County.

The title of the YouTube video was "They Should Have CLOSED the Beach."

Careful what you wish for.

The adrenaline-pumping video, posted by Viktor Hluben of Boca Raton, who goes by the social media handle Landshark Fishing, documented a session many shark fishermen would describe as epic. It chronicles an April day of fishing at a Hutchinson Island public beach in St. Lucie County. What the handful of sharkers caught was staggering.

Try an unheard of 11 hammerhead sharks and two tiger sharks in just 12 hours of fishing effort. All the animals were released after being caught and having the hooks removed. To fellow land-based shark fishers, and some 1.6 million viewers, the video rates as one of the all-time best. But to a growing wave of beachgoers and conservationists, the video generates frustration.

Scientists claim the large coastal sharks like hammerheads and tigers are actually much more fragile than anglers believe, and sometimes do not survive the act of catch and release. Florida fishing regulations state it is "unlawful to harvest, possess, land, purchase, sell or exchange" 26 species of sharks and rays including tiger sharks, hammerhead sharks and great white sharks.

In late April, just weeks after the video was shot, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the 7-member governor-appointed rule making body for Florida's fishing and hunting laws, heard testimony from 21 speakers about the trials of shark fishing from the beach and its impacts, real and perceived. Everything from concern for the sharks' health to concern for swimmers' health was entered into public record.

Sharks are the focus of April's FWC meeting in Fort Lauderdale Jim Abernethy of Abernethy Scuba in Palm Beach is talking to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission April 25, 2018, about land fishing for sharks.

Jim Abernethy, owner of Jim Abernethy's Scuba Adventures, a shark ecotourism dive charter business operating in waters of Florida, the Bahamas and Mexico, said the shark diving industry brings in $220 million to Florida's economy annually.

"Sharks are responsible for maintaining a healthy balance which helps provide productive fishing off the coast," Abernethy said. "Unfortunately, land-based shark fishing has produced at least 37 dead hammerhead sharks I know of. It's concerned an endangered animal worldwide and can't take the fishing pressure. we have state laws in place saying you cannot do anything to these sharks, even measure or take a photo of them out of the water, so I do not know why the state is not enforcing this law."

Several speakers mentioned the aftermath of the epic fishing video, and social media posts from all areas of the state. Three days after the fishing session, a great hammerhead shark washed up at Jensen Beach. Was it one of the sharks from the video? No one could be sure. But Martin County lifeguards called the FWC who in turn called Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce. Research scientist Matt Ajemian's team was dispatched to collect the big shark.

"We had to decide what to do about it," said Ajemian, whose team performed a necropsy — think more like biology class and less like Crime Scene Investigation. "It was huge and we could not have collected it without the help of the lifeguards there or In-Water Research Group."

Ajemian explained that it is rare for research organizations to have access to large sharks like hammerheads, tigers and whites, because of their protected status. His team took measurements, weights and samples for a variety of research organizations on the 12-foot long, 560-pound male shark.

Ajemian said there was no way to know for certain whether the shark was caught the day the video was shot, but the research community has a good working relationship with land-based shark fishers, so there was no blame assigned.

More: New York Mets take break from catching fly balls to catching sharks

Other speakers at the FWC meeting in April included Melbourne Beach Mayor Jim Simmons.

"I have lived, fished, surfed and swam on Florida's beaches my entire life, and I know sharks are always near shore, and there is always a risk of an incidental shark bite," Simmons said. "But shark fishing and blood baiting are designed to attract sharks to a specific area, and to induce feeding activity in the low-visibility surf zone, which is obviously incompatible with safe swimming.

"It's common sense," he said. "Responsible shark fishers know not to fish among swimmers. The problem is with an irresponsible minority of anglers who refuse to respect the right of others to use our beaches safely."

Jessica Veatch, of Port St. Lucie, lived through a parent's horror last summer when her daughter Violet, now 4, was bitten by a shark in August at Bathtub Beach in Martin County. She gave a tearful description of the trauma her family experienced after Violet's leg was grabbed by what was probably a shark. Veatch said she believed it was fishing activity and active spearfishing taking place at the guarded beach that day which led to the incident.

PSL mother urged FWC to craft fishing regulations with beachgoer safety in mind Jessica Veatch and her daughter, Violet, of Port St. Lucie urged the FWC to separate fishing from swimming areas at beaches.

"International Shark Attack File director George Burgess identified Violet's bite as a provoked attack because of the fishing," Veatch said. "I would like to see separation of fishing and swimming areas. Fishing at a public beach is dangerous."

"Please make the beach safer for other kids like me," Violet added.

The FWC listened. No one who supported land-based shark fishing spoke at the meeting. The FWC directed its staff to evaluate regulations, and perhaps draft new ones. That process is well underway.

The problem, according to recommendations provided to the FWC by David Shiffman (@WhySharksMatter on Twitter), noted shark researcher at Simon Fraser University and marine conservation biologist and science writer, is several species commonly caught from the beach do not survive the fight very well, and if they do, they may not survive the photo session or release.

"Two of the top ways that angling stress kills fish are long fight times which exhaust the fish and air exposure," Shiffman wrote in recommendations he provided to FWC — "Promoting Conservation-Friendly Shark Handling Practices in the Fishing Capital of the World: A Science-Based Proposal to Revise Florida’s Land-Based Shark Fishing Regulations."

Shiffman wrote "land-based shark anglers in Florida commonly bring their catch completely out of the water and onto a beach or pier, and sharks are sometimes left out of the water for long periods of time while anglers measure their catch or pose for photographs. Sharks handled in this way lack the buoyant support of water, cannot breathe, and suffer gill damage, in addition to suffering abrasions from being dragged over rough terrain. Only a few minutes of air exposure can cause permanent gill damage or death."

A series of FWC workshops has been lined up. Workshops will begin at 6 p.m. local time. If people cannot attend an in-person workshop, he or she may submit comments online by visiting MyFWC.com/SaltwaterComments. The FWC workshop schedule is as follows:

July 18: Bradenton, State College of Florida, Library and Learning Center – Together Manatee Community Room, 5840 26th Street West

July 19: Fort Myers, Joseph P D’Alessandro Office Complex, Room 165 C & D, 2295 Victoria Avenue

August 6: Panama City, Gulf Coast State College, The Russell C. Holley and Herbert P. Holley Language and Literature Building, Sarzin Lecture Hall, 5230 West US Highway 98

August 7: Pensacola, Sanders Beach-Corinne Jones Resource Center – Parks & Recreation Department, City of Pensacola, 913 South I Street

August 20: Daytona Beach, Piggotte Community Center, Reception Hall Room, 504 Big Tree Road

August 21: Jacksonville, Jacksonville University, J. Henry Gooding Building – Swisher Auditorium, 2800 University Blvd North

August 27: Melbourne Beach, Melbourne Beach Community Center, 509 Ocean Avenue

August 28: West Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, Department of Planning, Zoning & Building – The Vista Center, 2300 North Jog Road

August 29: Miami, Miami City Hall – Commission Main Chambers, 3500 Pan American Drive

August 30: Key Colony Beach, City Hall, 600 W. Ocean Drive

For complete current shark fishing regulations go to http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/sharks/.

Ed Killer is the outdoors columnist for Treasure Coast Newspapers and TCPalm.com, and this column reflects his opinion. Friend him on Facebook at Ed Killer, follow him on Twitter @tcpalmekiller or email him at ed.killer@tcpalm.com or call him at 772-221-4201.