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The Congressional Carve Out
was for Caviar
Poblete Dispatch
"While we are reading closely, look at the word the statute uses for the conduct that stays legal: harvest. Harvest is what you do to soybeans. What the law means is catching the animal and killing it, for sport or for money, and in the commercial case selling the meat and the parts.
Put it in those words, and the rule reads differently. You may drop bait in federal water to bring a shark close if you intend to kill it. You may not drop bait in the same water to bring the same shark if you intend to photograph it and let it swim away. The animal does not know the difference. The hazard, whatever it is, does not change with the purpose in a person’s head; the only thing that changes is which industry gets to use the ocean."
Florida weighs bills that could rewrite shark management rules
CBS10 News (Video & Article)
Florida is wrestling with two major pieces of legislation that could reshape how the state manages its shark populations, even as fishing captains and conservationists square off over what’s really happening in the water.
Fishing enthusiasts say shark numbers are rising, reporting more encounters with sharks eating their catch “right off the line.”
Scientists say there is no evidence to support those claims, but one bill aims to find out. Another seeks to ban intentional shark feeding in federal waters off Florida’s coast, a move that would directly affect the state’s shark-diving industry.
A Shark-Feeding Ban Exposes a Deeper Fight Over Florida’s Changing Seas
Inside Climate News
Shark Stewards
They claim the ban will protects the public from shark encounters, prevents sharks from becoming “human-conditioned” and promotes conservation. However, these claims lack scientific evidence. There’s no conclusive data that shark feeding increases attacks or changes shark behavior long-term."
DEMA Opposes the
Florida Safe Seas Act
When the Costume Slips,
and We Are the Catch
Poblete Dispatch
A BETTER WAY TO SAFE SEAS
"Florida’s shark-diving charters are the kind of business a free market is supposed to reward: self-funded, self-regulated for a quarter century, and profitable without a dime of public subsidy. Their livelihood depends on a healthy ocean, so they are the ones pulling lost hooks from the water and carrying the scientists who study these animals.
The government did not build this industry, and the government does not need to end it. There is a better path, and it is the one free people usually choose: regulate based on properly vetted scientific work; do not prohibit.
Give the operators the seat at the table they were never offered, and write a rule that keeps swimmers safe, sharks protected, and boats in the water: a certified-operator standard or a defined management zone under state and federal oversight. A blanket federal ban picks a winner and a loser by statute. A smart standard lets both industries share the same water.
Safe seas and free enterprise are not enemies. Congress can protect people without destroying a lawful Florida trade; it simply has to choose the solution over the ban."
Will Banning Baited Shark Diving Off Florida Make Our Seas Safer?
Scuba Diving Magazine
What you need to know about the latest bill proposing to ban baited shark snorkeling and diving
South Florida shark diving operators push back against Florida Safe Seas Act: "There's a huge double standard here"
Shark diving tourism off Florida coast could nose-dive if feeding ban passes
Miami Herald via Yahoo
"The demand to see sharks is not going to go away," she said. "It's simply going to shift to other countries, like the Bahamas. We're going to lose a major tourism income stream in the U.S."
The Florida Safe Seas Act Used a Webpage and a Student Newspaper. The Sturgeon Farmers, Analysis.
Pushback by South Florida shark diving operators against Florida Safe Seas Act
CBS News
The legislation is headed to the Senate, and if enacted, it would prohibit the use of bait to attract sharks in federal waters off the Florida coast, though it would include an exception for shark fishing.
The Florida Safe Seas Act Feeding Ban
Shark Angels
"The creators of this bill are worried that conservationists are becoming too powerful. We are gaining influence on social media and the internet, encouraging people to pay more attention to politicians’ actions and their consequences. The districts supporting the bill are not near any shark diving areas, so there is no reason for them to push for this, and certainly, no reason for it to pass."
Florida Safe Seas Act
A federal bill would ban Florida shark dive operators from feeding sharks. Its sponsors say the ban is about safety. People who know the water, including fishers, doubt it would change much.
The Diving Equipment & Marketing Association (DEMA) — the world's largest trade association representing the recreational diving industry —h as publicly opposed H.R. 3831 and warned that the legislation would have significant economic, conservation, and educational consequences for Florida and the broader U.S. diving industry.
"This industry has created a natural guardianship for sharks; it is showing people that sharks are worth more alive than dead; it's showing people the importance of sharks, really,"
Economics
Florida Shark Diving Economic Impact
Oceana
One of the most widely cited analyses of Florida's shark-diving industry.
Key Findings
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$221 million annual direct expenditures
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$377 million total economic impact
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3,797 jobs supported
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$116 million wages generated
Florida Sharks Bring in Big $
Shark Allies
4.24 million snorkelers visit a year, and 4.56 million divers. Together, this accounts for 26,000 full-time jobs, contributing $909.4 million to the Florida economy every year.
A Future For Sharks
Guy Harvey Magazine
By Stefanie Brendl
Let’s leave out emotions and any ethical concerns for a moment and look at this from a purely economic point of view. Besides their contribution to a balanced ecosystem, sharks are also the drivers of billion-dollar industries. Add up the profits alone from scuba diving tourism, recreational fishing and the film and media industry — all of which make big profits every year off sharks — and you will end up with billions of dollars generated every year. It is all money made off living sharks.
GUY HARVEY MAGAZINE
By Stefanie Brendl
