Follow up on Emerald Shark Attack

[drrich2]

I did have a good time. I'm in favor of people having the choice. I'm not troubled at all that some choose not to participate. It's when they decide they're going to choose for me not to participate there's an issue.

My point is that humans interfere with wildlife in a number of ways, and often some choose to vilify a method that doesn't conflict their own interest, while ignoring others. Consider this:

Most recreational fishermen and charters seemed solidly against it and make up a far bigger,noisier and better funded lobby.

IIRC from past reading here & there, some fishermen clean their catch at sea and dump the waste off the boat. True? If so, in theory might this not teach sharks to associate boats with food? You could probably pitch the theory to people who swim or snorkel from boats, get them worried it might raise their risk.

Commercial fishing (e.g.: long lines) is notorious for ecological damage, but hey, we're talking about supper options, so 'Whoa.'

Similarly, the wrecks attracting sand tigers is a legit example. Yes, we can't put a 'stop' to pre-existing wrecks as easily as shark feed diving, but it's human-driven interference.

The most compelling criticism I've read against shark feed diving comes from spear fishermen (I miss Dumpster Diver) who are concerned it may raise their risk (as they engage in an activity prone to attract sharks & that could lead to associations of divers with food). And some chum in bull sharks to shoot cobia near!

I've seen intelligently reasoned theoretical objections to shark feeding. It will remain controversial. And some will remain driven to bring it down...

Richard.

 

[tilikum]

It absolutely should be abolished along with a slew of other maritime practices

 

[HalcyonDaze]

Heard multiple complaints,then a council member mentioned they were looking into ways they would be able to address it.No mention of how.They could ban it,limit it,require a license for it or any number of modifications to the current rules or leave it as is.Most recreational fishermen and charters seemed solidly against it and make up a far bigger,noisier and better funded lobby.

How much do I want to bet the council member in question was the FWC seat? It doesn't seem like the other folks listed would have a dogfish in that fight.

"Most recreational fishermen and charters" - I assume for the former you mean spearfishers? I would be very curious if the hook-and-line crowd was weighing in on this. As for the dive charters, I have the gut feeling it's more about money and competition than fears of the sharks getting too familiar with humans. I've seen several PBC charters bash the boats that feed and then line up to dive their sites after they leave, and I know at least one of those operators who was vocal about it a few years back used to "attract" sharks in state waters after FWC banned feeds inside the 3-mile line.

 

[tilikum]

As I said earlier, if you put enough spin on it, you can rationalize just about any ecologically unnatural behavior.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

And if you think about it, there are few limits to what can be defined as "ecologically unnatural behavior" when it comes to humans in the ocean.

 

[tilikum]

And hand feeding sharks doesn't require any mental gymnastics to comprehend that the practice is wrong.

 

[100days-a-year]

FWC has said nothing at any meeting I was at,solely charter and recreational folk.Most were made aware of the practice only recently due to the numerous publicised incidents which have plagued Emerald.Ill keep you posted when I attend more meetings.
Not something you guys really want discussed a lot there,the sentiment from actual fisheries scientists is more amusement right now. If they really stick their noses in it,the tendency is to get funding through crisis.The mere suggestion that migration patterns are being interfered with could give them cause to shut it down til fully studied.

 

[KathyV]

So....no useful information about what happened on May 28, how surprising

No, but I saw a post by a spear-fisher on another forum stating that Randy Jordan got out of the hospital on May 31 with 1000 stitches and had plans to get back to diving in 4 weeks.

Another guy said that he dived the same site the day after the attack and found Randy's Bait Crate attached to the site. He retrieved it and plans to return it to him. Sounds like they left in a hurry! And it also sounds like Randy is a lucky guy.

 

[HalcyonDaze]

FWC has said nothing at any meeting I was at,solely charter and recreational folk.Most were made aware of the practice only recently due to the numerous publicised incidents which have plagued Emerald.Ill keep you posted when I attend more meetings.
Not something you guys really want discussed a lot there,the sentiment from actual fisheries scientists is more amusement right now. If they really stick their noses in it,the tendency is to get funding through crisis.The mere suggestion that migration patterns are being interfered with could give them cause to shut it down til fully studied.

Having spoken to several shark researchers around the state, they either use feeding ops to assist with their work (to be clear, Emerald is not one of them) and/or have no interest in getting involved in the feeding debate as it's a public opinion minefield. The few that have stepped into it have done so with regard to the Bahamas, before Emerald and Calypso started baiting in US waters.

These days the funding trend in shark research is more towards soliciting donations from the public for basic supplies and field time rather than "getting funding through crisis." Shark research is not where the big government fisheries $$$ is - that's with commercially valuable species. The shark fishery in its current state is a drop in the bucket, in terms of numbers and economic impact. During grad school in California I worked with a well-known shark researcher who at the time was getting most of his funding from looking at kelp and barred sand bass, California sheephead, lingcod, halibut, rockfish, etc. because that was where the real money was. It's the same deal on this coast.

 

[drrich2]

And hand feeding sharks doesn't require any mental gymnastics to comprehend that the practice is wrong.

No, it requires a choice some choose to make & some don't, since 'wrong' is a value judgment, not a fact. Have you had a burger lately? I imagine PETA doesn't think it'd require any mental gymnastics to conclude that practice is wrong, too.

Richard.