FLORIDA (14 Mar 2001) -- PADI, DEMA and Rodale's Scuba Diving magazine have suffered another stunning defeat as the Lighthouse Point City Commission unanimously agreed to draft an ordinance not to grant occupational licenses to any dive operator using the waterways or docks who wishes to conduct shark feeding programs. Commissioner Dan Oates made the motion to draft the ordinance and was unanimously supported by his fellow commissioners. The decision was another triumph for the grassroots environmental coalition led by the the Marine Safety Group. PADI, a company that sells diver certification ID cards, sports clothing and discount travel packages, and DEMA, a dive equipment marketing group, again poured money into an intense lobbying effort but their attorneys failed for the third straight time as local officials decided that public safety was more important than the profits of a small, but powerful special interest group. | | Rodale Inc, which publishes a regional diving magazine that has joined PADI and DEMA in their campaign to put an environmental spin on sharkfeeding, could not be reached for comment. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK |
