Shark Forum Not a Frenzy

The Marco Island Police Department and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's (FWC) shore-based shark fishing awareness town hall attracted a full house to city council chambers Monday morning, March 2. And while the meeting was not exactly frenzied, as officials rightfully may have feared, there were plenty of strong opinions aired on both sides of the aisle from proponents of shore-based shark fishing and those opposed to the sport on Marco's beaches.

Captain Randy Yanez, FWC area supervisor covering Collier, Hendry, and Glades counties, said the meeting aimed to educate Marco Island residents on shore-based shark fishing rules so they can distinguish legal from illegal activity.

"I think it went great,” Yanez said. "It was a great opportunity for the residents of Marco Island to express their comments and concerns. Our purpose was to come out here and just give them the education on the rules and regulations. That way, they have a better understanding of the things that they are seeing and can determine if they are legal or illegal before contacting authorities."

Yanez recognizes that much of the standing room only crowd appeared to be against shore-based shark fishing—at least when it’s being done on Marco Beach. A petition created by beachfront condominium owners against shore-based shark fishing allegedly has over 3,500 signatures and is buoyed by the fact that Miami Beach recently banned the activity.

“That’s why a big portion of the program today was to just let them know that yes, you can have your opinion and you can have your stance on whatever you want,” Yanez said, "but just to let you know that if these people are following the rules and regulations, they're completely allowed to be there. Any issues or regulations that would be implemented through the city were not part of this meeting. Those are completely separate things that need to be taken up with their legal department and Fish and Wildlife. We don't answer any questions on implementing ordinances or anything like that at my level. This was just strictly to have a one-on-one with the residents and educate them on the rules and regulations of shore-based shark fishing."

Marco Island resident Henry Kaminski doesn’t think shore-based shark fishing belongs on Marco Beach.

"In general, I don't have a problem with shark fishing,” Kaminski said, "except I have a problem with shark fishing on Marco Island, where people are also using the water to go in and swim. This is probably more directed at city council members. Two communities in Florida, Indian Shores and Redington Shores, have banned shark fishing from the shore. I'm just worried. I know there hasn't been a shark bite for a while, but it doesn't seem to be a wise thing as far as you're chumming. They chum all the time because I see bits and pieces when I walk the beach every morning. I'm saying generally, if there's any city council people here, you know we can ban it.”

Indian Shores and Redington Shores, located within 1.45 miles of each other in Pinellas County, 150 miles north of Marco, passed similar restrictions after a pregnant tiger shark washed ashore in 2023. A 12' tiger shark was found washed up on Marco Beach in January. The Miami Beach city commission recently voted unanimously to prohibit all land-based shark fishing gear, including assisted casting from drones and watercraft.

There were at least four Marco Island city council members in attendance: Tamara Goehler, Stephen Gray, Deb Henry, and Bonita Schwan. 

"I'm so glad that so many people attended today,” Schwan said following the meeting. "I think there's a great concern about this swimming at South Beach. It's one of our most popular places where people do swim. We’ll see what we can do to address that.”

While Marco Island police chief Tracy Frazzano declined comment following the meeting, she stepped in during the meeting to support Sergeant Ryan Montgomery, who was acting as moderator.

"Let me see if I can help clarify a couple of things,” Frazzano said. "We're trying our best to address these things. But I want to clarify a couple things. Today was supposed to just be about informational education on what shore-based shark fishing is and what we are allowed by state law and what we aren't allowed to do. Give you some of the regulations. So hopefully you did learn something today. While I understand your concerns, please understand, as of right now, shore fishing is allowed.”

Spencer Roberts, a PhD student at the University of Miami and director of the nonprofit Fish Defender (fishdefender.org), attended Monday’s meeting. “We are working on a number of policies to protect marine life,” Roberts said. "But we're focusing right now on land-based shark fishing in Florida and beyond. People around the country and the world are noticing the harm that this is causing to endangered species and public safety and are organizing to pass laws to stop it. And we want to help them. In a paper published by Binstock et al in 2023, they put trackers on 41 sharks that were caught and released by land-based shark fishing methods in Texas. And after six weeks, almost a quarter of those sharks were dead. Across all species. So there's varying post-release mortality, whether you're looking at tiger sharks, which might be more hardy. Hammerheads are extremely sensitive. Both the hammerheads tracked in that study died. And you see these sharks washing up on the beaches? It's not normal to find sharks dead on the beach. Obviously, these sharks live in this marine environment. But ask yourself why we aren't finding dolphins washed up, which are much more abundant. The Southeastern United States is the only place in the world where critically endangered great hammerheads and massive tiger sharks are routinely being found dead on beaches, and commonly, they show clear signs of land-based shark fishing injuries. So there's a clear causal link, and we'll be working on demonstrating that empirically with our research. But the dangers to the fish are very clear, and the post-release mortality actually underestimates the total mortality to the sharks, because it doesn't account for the morbidity factors of all of the animals that break loose with hundreds of feet of trailing line. How long do you think a shark survives dragging 300 feet of monofilament line through the ocean? And the risk to the public. There's always a risk of shark bites when conditioning animals to associate areas with food. We know that this is something that happens. We know that sharks can learn from tank trials. There's a whole global diving industry based around teaching sharks to associate locations with food provisioning. So that's a risk. And then there's also the risk of the fishing gear itself we're talking about. This is not normal fishing gear. We're talking about hundreds of feet of thick, unbreakable monofilament line. We're talking about hooks two inches wide that can snag the skin.”

Captain David Boggs of Marco Island, who is arguably the person most associated with land-based shark fishing on Marco Beach, participated in the meeting.

"I think the meeting is important,” Boggs said. “Number one for education. I think a lot of times people have a misunderstanding of the rules or regulations, and that kind of leads to the confusion that happens surrounding all of it. Us, personally, we want to be good neighbors. We live here. I raise my ten year old son here. He's basically a professional fisherman now. I appreciate concerns of the neighbors, but we also have to look at the data and the facts. And the fact is that shark fishing doesn't create more of a conflict in regard to shark attacks or shark bites. And shark fishing is on the rise. It's a big boom and the data doesn't show any more additional shark attacks. So therefore the truth is, it doesn't have any bearing on that whatsoever. I'm against chumming. I'm against anything that's illegal in regard to fishing off the beach and all of those things. We want to do it right. And what I always tell people is, when you see us fishing on the beach, come down, talk to us, see what we do, and then judge it from there. We do our very best to protect the animal. We release it as quickly as possible. We also want to have a good experience for people to make a memory as well. I think today's meeting was outstanding. Marco Island Police and FWC are trying to kind of bridge the gap between the anti-shark fishing and the shark fishing. And I think that's a good thing. And hopefully we can all do better about being a good neighbor."

Boggs said negative confrontations with beachgoers are on the decline.

“We used to have them,” he said, "but now anymore it's been questions and I've been intentional about trying to record and video people. And they ask good questions. Some people ask us questions about whether it brings the sharks in or what? And the only thing that is scientifically proven to actually trigger a shark attack is actual chumming. Blood chumming will cause the sharks to go into a frenzy or in a mode that's different. It's illegal to do that unless you're on a boat offshore. And so I think that's one of the questions or concerns. That's a legitimate question. I'm okay to answer that question, but just dropping a piece of bait doesn't change the behavior of a shark. It's swimming there no matter what. And if it's swimming there, if it passes your bait, the likelihood of it eating it is high. That's its normal behavior. Just like if it's a piece of fish or whatever's on there. So we're not changing the shark's behavior just by fishing."

So what does Boggs think is the root of residents’ outcry against shore-based shark fishing?”

“I think the majority is a lack of understanding or being fearful of the unknown,” he reasons. "I mean, if you pop up a drone on a clear day and the water is clear, you see sharks there all the time, whether we're fishing or not. People always ask this question or make comments. They say your fishing there is bringing in the sharks. I wish I was that good. But the reality of it is we fish there because the sharks are there. And I always try to tell people, you have the Marco River, and then you have the pass, and there's a natural habitat for sharks to feed and to be in this area at that time. So we come to Marco Island, we live in Marco Island, but we fish the areas that we fish because the sharks are already there.”

Those arguments don’t wash with Roberts, who said he was invited to attend Monday’s meeting. He declined to divulge who extended the invitation.

"I don't think there's any reason for it,” he said, “it is not providing food for people. It is a very careless and costly activity. It's dangerous. It's cruel. I think if we put it to a vote, the vast majority of people, if they knew all of the details around the mortality rates and the risks would vote to end it. And almost everywhere that has considered banning shore-based shark fishing has passed it unanimously."