A letter recieved from world famous stand up angler Barbara Ferguson and her husband Don.Great to have such famous anglers supporting our cause.A big thank you to Don and Barbara Ferguson from the South Florida Shark Club and the rest of Florida's land-based shark fisherman.
To: info@southfloridasharkclub.com
Reply-To: competitiontack@bellsouth.net
Subject: Fw: Boca Raton's Proposed Ban on Beach Shark Fishing
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Hi, we're with you.
Competition Tackle & Marine, Inc.
5011 So. State Road #7 Suite 109
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33314
email:
--- On Tue, 1/11/11, competitiontack@bellsouth.net <competitiontack@bellsouth.net> wrote:
From: competitiontack@bellsouth.net <competitiontack@bellsouth.net>
Subject: Boca Raton's Proposed Ban on Beach Shark Fishing
To: ramonson@sunsentinel.com
Date: Tuesday, January 11, 2011, 1:28 PM
Hi Rebekah. Our names are Don & Barbara Ferguson. We are near 70 years old and lifetime Florida Sport Fisherman. Barbara has won The (local) Florida Triple Crown of Fishing five times, I once. Additionally, we are retired Charter Captains both. Today we own a Tackle Store & a wholesale bait business. We are qualified to speak fishing.
The article you wrote on the Subject above was very good we thought. Unfortunately, we have to work and cannot make the Council Meeting. We'll have no chance for comments. We hope you'll speak for us and the thousands of South Florida fishermen.
What the Council is proposing indeed stomps on the legal privelgesof all South Florida citizens fishermen involved, without legal or scientific justifcation what so ever. The fish that are on the Beach are there whether the fishermen are there or not. Fishing after bathing hours is totally harmless, is legal and beach access in Florida is is a legal right.
The proposal seems unenforceable and nothing more than a high handed move by the Boca Raton Council to remove fishermen from the Beach totally. Should the proposal pass the any Beach Fishermen will be driven off, harranged & ticketed for fishing.
Fisherman after Tarpon or other species use large baits (a fish carcass) and large hooks. The same technique one would use for Sharks. Fishing for Bluefish this time of year requires cutfish bait & wire leads. There is no such thing as a " shark lure So, only God knows what a fisherman is after or what He or She will catch on any line at any time. The rules will be unenforceable. Next they'll want to Ban sand flea rakes, cast nets for mullet or bait fish. Why not ban treasure hunters, joggers & lovers from the Beach.
To Cut off a Shark that is incidentally hooked, leaving hooks, line & weights attached to the fish, is the worst case scenario. The animal is injured. The animal can't feed. The animal will starve and THEN feed on what it can.
The Shark Fishermen you write about are careful to release the creatures they love in the best possible condition. They want them to grow up. They generally remove hooks, walk them to revive the fish and only then set it free. To cut it loose with hooks and wire or line attached is stupid and animal cruelty and doesn't happen among these fishermen.
Fishermen have fished on Florida Beaches for a thousand years. The Seminoles, the Caribes the Pilgrims and now us.
Please advise the Boca Raton Council again of the tremendous tax dollar expenditure they may heap upon Boca residents trying to justify the unjustifiable. Trying to defend their indefensible proposal in the Courts. We will be among the first to contribute to such suits by fishermen.
Don & Barbara Ferguson
Competition Tackle & Marine, Inc.
5011 So. State Road #7 Suite 109
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33314
email:
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
This is well written and has great points. And I'm glad this has brought a lot of positive attention to our cause. The more people that are aware of what actually goes on, instead of the negative media coverage, helps us more.
Thanks Barbara and Don.
I agree it is well written!!! Hope people will realize one day that no matter what the shark's are going to be in the water they swim in no matter if we are fishing for them or not
very well written