Most sharkfishermen here on the northern gulf
coast rarely if ever post pictures on the public
forums. Always someone got something negetive
to say or jack the sport in general. We'll always be
the under dogs of gamefishing. They could'nt stop us
from fishing for BS reasons now they stepped up the game
and it won't stop till ALL species are banned. I drove all
over Pensacola setin up petitions and rallying the local
sharkfishermen to send in emails so I can't say I did'nt
do anything and I'll do it again when the next ban pops
up. But I wonder if it even makes a difference. The system is BROKE
and you can't fix greed and corpution......
My opinion is this. I want to to see the Sharks here forever so that my Kids and my Grand Kids can catch a lot of Sharks and keep the tradition alive. For that to happen there needs to be Sharks. I know I never kill any of my Sharks but that's just me. If I had wanted to I could because it is my legal right. But again I have always been a catch and release Shark Fishermen. Having said that do these people really think that the Land based Shark Fishermen does nearly the same damage as these commercial or charter guys? Seriously? It's not what they are doing that bothers me it's how they are going about it. Go after the commercial guys not land based fishermen!!! So my final opinion on this topic is that I am all for protecting the Sharks so that they thrive, but these people better understand that it's the commercial markets from all different oceans that are depleting the Sharks, not the Florida land based fishermen.
My opinion is this. I want to to see the Sharks here forever so that my Kids and my Grand Kids can catch a lot of Sharks and keep the tradition alive. For that to happen there needs to be Sharks. I know I never kill any of my Sharks but that's just me. If I had wanted to I could because it is my legal right. But again I have always been a catch and release Shark Fishermen. Having said that do these people really think that the Land based Shark Fishermen does nearly the same damage as these commercial or charter guys? Seriously? It's not what they are doing that bothers me it's how they are going about it. Go after the commercial guys not land based fishermen!!! So my final opinion on this topic is that I am all for protecting the Sharks so that they thrive, but these people better understand that it's the commercial markets from all different oceans that are depleting the Sharks, not the Florida land based fishermen.
Agreed.
It's the same with the grouper. People go down to South Florida to get grouper in the winter and now they can't. The state is losing money on it plus it is the commercial guys who do most of the damage to the fisheries.
What are they gonna ban next? Nurse sharks?
It's really gonna be tough on us now and life in general makes it tough on us,thats why we make the best out of what we have and get.This 'BAN' is nonsense and overkill cause these sharks are going strong do to our practice in releasing and good old shark club fun....I feel it's the 'MONEY' thing and if it is.......so be it! It is what it is and all we can do is make the best of it I guess........but really they should think now? More sharks in the water means more competition of hungry sharks!........stay out of the water!!!!! 
I have seen many law go into effect in my years of fishing. Some good some bad. Back in the seventys the Jewfish were being depleted by com and divers. The fish have came back also the Redfish, they have come back. I have never seen a law reversed. Before long the keys will be the no take zone. The rest of the state will follow. Our kids will see snook and redfish. Put they will not know how good a deep fryed snook taste like or redfish.
So sad....our children will be stripped of their fish before their time... 
It was A honor being part of our last 'BIG HAMMER CHALLENGE 'with you guys and ladies......really!
My opinion is this. I want to to see the Sharks here forever so that my Kids and my Grand Kids can catch a lot of Sharks and keep the tradition alive. For that to happen there needs to be Sharks. I know I never kill any of my Sharks but that's just me. If I had wanted to I could because it is my legal right. But again I have always been a catch and release Shark Fishermen. Having said that do these people really think that the Land based Shark Fishermen does nearly the same damage as these commercial or charter guys? Seriously? It's not what they are doing that bothers me it's how they are going about it. Go after the commercial guys not land based fishermen!!! So my final opinion on this topic is that I am all for protecting the Sharks so that they thrive, but these people better understand that it's the commercial markets from all different oceans that are depleting the Sharks, not the Florida land based fishermen.
Best Response on Here, I have a 2 year old boy and I want him to be able to see sharks in the wild when he grows up and yes they should have targeted commercial fishermen and charter guys who will killed an old tiger/hammer for a set of jaws for a $50 tip!It is good they ban finning in our state waters.
I dont care if fishing becomes a felony i WONT STOP!
There is a ton of good points on this topic someone send this to the government
We knew the ban on Tigers and Hammers would be passed and the bull shark is probably next in line to be banned.The lemon shark was banned previous to those species mentioned above and they are nowhere near threatened status and are caught frequently .These bans are more a messege of protection of species that may one day become endangered versus actually facing extinction and that is fine IF it was being pushed on the nations that are the true culprits of sharks depleting stocks.
The question remains are these bans of any positive effect when the species banned are migratory types like the hammer and the tiger.So we catch and release them because we have for years but the shark we release is then killed on a Mexican or Costa Rican longline.Our goverment should be on the forefront of imposing real conservation efforts on other nations that would truly have positive effects on shark populations but they are shortsighted and powerless to impose such measures on other developing poor nations; so instead we the taxpayers bear the burden and pay the price.They beat up there recreational fisherman into submission with laws that are ineffective when dealing with migrtory species such as the tiger and hammer.The Goliath grouper Ban has had a measurable positive effect because they do not migrate but typically inhabit one area for long periods of time.
We feel it is nescesary to protect sharks as they are an important part of the oceans ecosystem but what true and critical positive effect will the ban have on those two species in the long run? Probably very little.The way I see it is that these bans make our sport more challenging and less attractive.Less attractive on a personal level because the dream of catching a world record for those two species from Florida has been squashed(Bucky Dennis is happy).
It is critical that we manage our fisheries in this state and have a responsibility to so but let's do it in a sensible way.
SOUTH FLORIDA SHARK CLUB -President SFSC-Founding Member est 1983 SFSC-Website Administrator BIG HAMMER SHARK TOURNAMENT -Founder Rene Memorial Sharkathon -Founder NMFS Shark Tagger
We knew the ban on Tigers and Hammers would be passed and the bull shark is probably next in line to be banned.The lemon shark was banned previous to those species mentioned above and they are nowhere near threatened status and are caught frequently .These bans are more a messege of protection of species that may one day become endangered versus actually facing extinction and that is fine IF it was being pushed on the nations that are the true culprits of sharks depleting stocks.
The question remains are these bans of any positive effect when the species banned are migratory types like the hammer and the tiger.So we catch and release them because we have for years but the shark we release is then killed on a Mexican or Costa Rican longline.Our goverment should be on the forefront of imposing real conservation efforts on other nations that would truly have positive effects on shark populations but they are shortsighted and powerless to impose such measures on other developing poor nations; so instead we the taxpayers bear the burden and pay the price.They beat up there recreational fisherman into submission with laws that are ineffective when dealing with migrtory species such as the tiger and hammer.The Goliath grouper Ban has had a measurable positive effect because they do not migrate but typically inhabit one area for long periods of time.We feel it is nescesary to protect sharks as they are an important part of the oceans ecosystem but what true and critical positive effect will the ban have on those two species in the long run? Probably very little.The way I see it is that these bans make our sport more challenging and less attractive.Less attractive on a personal level because the dream of catching a world record for those two species from Florida has been squashed(Bucky Dennis is happy).
It is critical that we manage our fisheries in this state and have a responsibility to so but let's do it in a sensible way.
Yep protected here only to be killed elswhere 
We knew the ban on Tigers and Hammers would be passed and the bull shark is probably next in line to be banned.The lemon shark was banned previous to those species mentioned above and they are nowhere near threatened status and are caught frequently .These bans are more a messege of protection of species that may one day become endangered versus actually facing extinction and that is fine IF it was being pushed on the nations that are the true culprits of sharks depleting stocks.
The question remains are these bans of any positive effect when the species banned are migratory types like the hammer and the tiger.So we catch and release them because we have for years but the shark we release is then killed on a Mexican or Costa Rican longline.Our goverment should be on the forefront of imposing real conservation efforts on other nations that would truly have positive effects on shark populations but they are shortsighted and powerless to impose such measures on other developing poor nations; so instead we the taxpayers bear the burden and pay the price.They beat up there recreational fisherman into submission with laws that are ineffective when dealing with migrtory species such as the tiger and hammer.The Goliath grouper Ban has had a measurable positive effect because they do not migrate but typically inhabit one area for long periods of time.We feel it is nescesary to protect sharks as they are an important part of the oceans ecosystem but what true and critical positive effect will the ban have on those two species in the long run? Probably very little.The way I see it is that these bans make our sport more challenging and less attractive.Less attractive on a personal level because the dream of catching a world record for those two species from Florida has been squashed(Bucky Dennis is happy).
It is critical that we manage our fisheries in this state and have a responsibility to so but let's do it in a sensible way.
Now thats the best response on here. Sharks have been here for 400million years even before dinosaurs and they'll be around long after anyones grandkids are grown and gone so caving in our rights under the guise of future generations is BS x 10. Go after the source and figure out how we can show our small impact on the species through data collection. If you believe we're the ones doing the damage then just rollover and be another chump for the system.
About time. I don't fish to put my name in an obsolete book. For the people with small kahunas, minimal education ( GED or less, no ecology or biology), you may venture into federal waters and feel like a man....
When you stop crying.. This is the future.. Kind of like fb if you still use myspace...
http://www.landbasedsharkfishing.com/ht ... cords.html
