KEY LARGO, Florida (1 Nov 2001) -- The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission voted Thursday to ban shark feeding, saying the practice by some scuba boat operators could be altering the animals' natural behavior. The seven commissioners said the ban was not related to the recent shark attacks in the state's coastal waters and stressed that there was no evidence connecting the feedings to the attacks. They said the ban, which takes effect January 1, was aimed solely at assuring that the sharks' behavior would not change, which could pose a future danger to beachgoers. "There is no question (shark feeding) alters the behavior of marine life and is detrimental to Florida marine life," commissioner Julie Morris said. Scuba boat operators and divers who oppose the ban argue the feedings do not harm the sharks and that the practice does not pose a danger to the public. They said shark dives bring thousands of tourists and millions of dollars to the state. They have filed a lawsuit in the capital, Tallahassee, to overturn the ban. "There is no scientific evidence to support the ban," said Erich Ritter, a self-proclaimed shark scientist who owns a shark thrill diving tourism business and is associated with the so-called Shark Research Institute, another travel business run by dive industry celebrity and dive tour hostess Stan Waterman. John Stewart -- a spokesman for the Diving Equipment and Marketing Association (DEMA), a California-based organization of scuba diving operators -- said if shark feedings posed a danger to the public, a diver would have been attacked on one of the tours. There have been no such attacks. | | "Wouldn't the shark go after the person who is two feet away?" Stewart asked. But opponents say the practice of "interactive diving," in which scuba-diving tourists watch dive leaders feed chunks of fish to sharks, teaches the animals to associate people with food. "We don't need to be altering the behavior of wildlife, particularly predators. That's not wise," said Bruce Hermelee, an attorney for the Marine Safety Group, which supported the ban. Since 1994, the number of Florida attacks has exceeded 20 in every year except 1996, according to the International Shark Attack File. The number peaked in 2000, when there were 39 -- including one fatality. There have been 36 so far this year. Most of this year's injuries were minor, but in July, a bull shark ripped the arm off 9-year-old Jessie Arbogast as he swam near Pensacola. Surgeons successfully reattached his arm, but severe blood loss left the Mississippi boy brain damaged. Between 1960 and 1994, the number of attacks never exceeded 20 and rarely exceeded 10. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK |
