Natasha
Contributor
Published Friday, November 2, 2001
Shark feeding on dives banned
BY SUSAN COCKING
scocking@herald.com
Insisting its decision has nothing to do with the spate of summer shark attacks in Florida, the Bahamas and elsewhere, the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Thursday passed a rule prohibiting feeding underwater marine life by divers.
OPPONENT: Joel Biddle of Reef Relief shars her view at the hearing. The ban will take effect Jan. 1 if it survives administrative and court challenges.
The rule also prohibits dive operators from escorting customers to sites where fish-feeding takes place. It does not apply to anglers chumming from boats.
If the rule survives administrative and circuit court challenges by the dive industry, it will take effect Jan. 1.
The ban, passed unanimously at a packed meeting in Key Largo, has been the subject of debate for two years.
``This is not about whether feeding marine life creates human health and safety issues,'' commissioner Julie Morris said. ``Feeding marine life alters marine-life behavior, and I believe that's damaging to Florida's marine wildlife.''
Four dive operators -- located in the Keys, and Broward and Palm Beach counties -- conduct shark- and fish-feeding dives for their customers.
Jeff Torode, who operates South Florida Diving Headquarters in Pompano Beach and said his operation has a clean safety record. He said feeding dives are educational to humans without harming fish.
``[The rule] will reinforce the misguided belief that our waters are unsafe and sharks are dangerous and should be feared,'' Torode said.
Torode was backed by Pompano Beach City Commissioner Bob Shelley.
``Don't scare our tourists by suggesting there's a problem when there isn't a problem,'' Shelley told commissioners.
``We really enjoy [interactive feeding dives]. Our sharks don't bite.''
More than 40 shark attacks have been reported since the summer, two of them fatal.
Two other prominent cases involved 8-year-old Jessie Arbogast, who was attacked July 6 in the Florida Panhandle, and Krishna Thompson, a Wall Street banker who lost his leg to a shark after being attacked in the Bahamas.
State Rep. Ken Sorensen of the Keys asked the commission through his aide, Laura Todd, to postpone a decision pending scientific study on whether shark-feeding dives contribute to shark attacks.
But commissioners said they had heard enough. The state wildlife commission has held hearings and workshops on marine-life feedings since 1999. Last month, the agency offered proposed guidelines that would have allowed the practice to continue, but those were rejected by dive operators.
Tallahassee attorney Bob Harris, representing dive operators, vowed to go to circuit court in Leon County on Monday to seek an injunction blocking the rule. Harris has already filed a challenge that is scheduled to be heard by a state administrative law judge Nov. 16.
Jim Antista, general counsel for the wildlife commission, said he is confident the commission will prevail.
``We feel the commission has passed a rule that, legally, we think is very defensible,'' Antista said.
In other action Thursday, commissioners adopted a rule increasing protection of Gulf Coast snook that will take effect Jan. 1.
The bag limit was reduced from two fish to one per angler per day, and the closed season was expanded to include May.
Currently, the snook fishery is closed Dec. 15 through Jan. 31 and during June, July and August.
The new rule applies to Florida's Gulf Coast, including the Keys and Everglades National Park. Commissioners said they would review the status of east-coast snook following a stock assessment in the summer.
www.miamiherald.com
Shark feeding on dives banned
BY SUSAN COCKING
scocking@herald.com
Insisting its decision has nothing to do with the spate of summer shark attacks in Florida, the Bahamas and elsewhere, the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Thursday passed a rule prohibiting feeding underwater marine life by divers.
OPPONENT: Joel Biddle of Reef Relief shars her view at the hearing. The ban will take effect Jan. 1 if it survives administrative and court challenges.
The rule also prohibits dive operators from escorting customers to sites where fish-feeding takes place. It does not apply to anglers chumming from boats.
If the rule survives administrative and circuit court challenges by the dive industry, it will take effect Jan. 1.
The ban, passed unanimously at a packed meeting in Key Largo, has been the subject of debate for two years.
``This is not about whether feeding marine life creates human health and safety issues,'' commissioner Julie Morris said. ``Feeding marine life alters marine-life behavior, and I believe that's damaging to Florida's marine wildlife.''
Four dive operators -- located in the Keys, and Broward and Palm Beach counties -- conduct shark- and fish-feeding dives for their customers.
Jeff Torode, who operates South Florida Diving Headquarters in Pompano Beach and said his operation has a clean safety record. He said feeding dives are educational to humans without harming fish.
``[The rule] will reinforce the misguided belief that our waters are unsafe and sharks are dangerous and should be feared,'' Torode said.
Torode was backed by Pompano Beach City Commissioner Bob Shelley.
``Don't scare our tourists by suggesting there's a problem when there isn't a problem,'' Shelley told commissioners.
``We really enjoy [interactive feeding dives]. Our sharks don't bite.''
More than 40 shark attacks have been reported since the summer, two of them fatal.
Two other prominent cases involved 8-year-old Jessie Arbogast, who was attacked July 6 in the Florida Panhandle, and Krishna Thompson, a Wall Street banker who lost his leg to a shark after being attacked in the Bahamas.
State Rep. Ken Sorensen of the Keys asked the commission through his aide, Laura Todd, to postpone a decision pending scientific study on whether shark-feeding dives contribute to shark attacks.
But commissioners said they had heard enough. The state wildlife commission has held hearings and workshops on marine-life feedings since 1999. Last month, the agency offered proposed guidelines that would have allowed the practice to continue, but those were rejected by dive operators.
Tallahassee attorney Bob Harris, representing dive operators, vowed to go to circuit court in Leon County on Monday to seek an injunction blocking the rule. Harris has already filed a challenge that is scheduled to be heard by a state administrative law judge Nov. 16.
Jim Antista, general counsel for the wildlife commission, said he is confident the commission will prevail.
``We feel the commission has passed a rule that, legally, we think is very defensible,'' Antista said.
In other action Thursday, commissioners adopted a rule increasing protection of Gulf Coast snook that will take effect Jan. 1.
The bag limit was reduced from two fish to one per angler per day, and the closed season was expanded to include May.
Currently, the snook fishery is closed Dec. 15 through Jan. 31 and during June, July and August.
The new rule applies to Florida's Gulf Coast, including the Keys and Everglades National Park. Commissioners said they would review the status of east-coast snook following a stock assessment in the summer.
www.miamiherald.com
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