Jul 22, 2009 11:02 am US/Eastern
Delray Beach Approves Shark Fishing Ban
DELRAY BEACH (CBS) ―
In a battle between fishers and sharks in Delray Beach, the sharks have won. Tuesday, city commissioners approved a ban on shark fishing at the municipal beach or within 300 feet of it.
The vote featured a showdown between self-proclaimed conservationists and angry fishermen and women.
Conservationists said the fishing was lowering shark populations and attracting sharks closer to where people swim. Anglers refuted the claims, saying they do not put chum in the water and that they usually release their catches to protect animal populations.
City staff drafted the ordinance as a result of several complaints last month from residents who said they saw chum on the water and had seen a dead shark wash ashore.
Anglers suggested they work with the city to come up with a solution that didn't target all fishermen; the bait used for shark fishing is the same used for fishing for other large species.
The commission reworded the regulation to clarify that only the use of cut bait would constitute a violation of the ban.
"We will be respectful of the law," William Fundora, president of the Miami-based South Florida Shark Club, said. "But I think it is a travesty that they passed this based on wrong information."
Mayor Woodie McDuffie said the ban is intended to protect the public, not to keep people from practicing recreational fishing off the beach.
"We have an issue of public safety," McDuffie said. "There's no possible way of knowing what's going to bite at the other end of the hook. There's no way to totally regulate what happens with equipment on the beach. What we are trying to do is to keep the treasure that is our beach safe for the people of Delray Beach."
The South Florida Sun-Sentinel contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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