Increasing Shark population off Florida Coast
Shark Attacks Likely To Rise As Number Of Sharks Increases
POSTED: 12:03 pm EDT May 19, 2008
WFTV
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. -- A plan is in the works to increase the shark population off of Central Florida's coast. A new regulation being rolled out by the federal government, in June, is supposed to improve the ocean environment. But it could lead to more shark encounters on the beach and it is forcing fishermen out of business.Since the 1980s, fishermen in Florida made a living off of the ocean's greatest predator. One at a time, creatures such as six-soot sandbar sharks, up to 150 pounds, were pulled aboard commercial fishing boats."Since I've been knee-high to a hubcap all, I ever wanted to be was a fisherman," said Joe Ludwig.
Ludwig lived his dream on a shark-fishing boat for 12 years. But his boat is now gone. Previous shark catching limits drove him out of the business.The government once encouraged the industry, enforcing few rules while 20-million pounds of shark a year were reeled in. Today, Eyewitness News could find only one lone shark fisherman left on the Central Florida coast, still dropping in his line to make a living."I pretty much abandoned any possible future in it," he said.Shark quotas are set to be cut again.
They'll be reduced another 85-percent, from levels already a fraction of what once fed a $30-million dollar industry."The reality is, this fishery has been in a steady state of decline for the last 20 years," said shark expert George Burgess.Burgess said the new cuts will all but kill shark fishing in Florida, but that the science behind it is sound."Sandbar sharks have suffered severe reductions. We're looking at probably 10 to 15-percent of its original population," he said.That's where scientists and fisherman differ.
"As a fisherman, I know what I see over the side of the boat," said Burgess.Fishermen not only disagree with how many sharks the government sees, but they point to what people such Jack Lomedico encounter."It bit me. It thought I was a fish," said the seven-year-old.Jack had his run-in with a shark last year. It left the perfect outline of its jaw on his leg. "At first I thought it was a crab or something," he said. "Then, it bit me again and I thought it was a shark."After shark fishing first went to a semi-annual season in Florida in 1993, reported bites went from a high of 17, to 20 or more in nine of the next 10 years.
There was better reporting, but both sides agree with more cuts, there will be more sharks. And potentially, that will lead to more bites.Governor Charlie Crist has asked for federal disaster relief for shark fishermen, and cited the government's inability to closely keep track of how many sharks are being caught.
