SHOREBOUND ANGLERS ALLIANCE TAKES ON Delray Beach(May 2014)

We fight alone sometimes,we fight in the shadows ,but we fight for what is RIGHT!!

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2014-0 ... ammerheads

ps...........More of Florida's land-based shark fishermen need to get involved.Don't fuss when your rights are taken away.

Delray Beach considers new shark-fishing ban
Danger to swimmers, sharks cited
Delray Beach is considering banning shark-fishing from shore within 300 feet of its public beach, a move intended to protect both sharks and swimmers. In this file photo, a hammerhead shark, makes it way through the water off the South Florida Coast.
Delray Beach is considering banning shark-fishing from shore within 300… (Neil Hammerschlag, Sun…)
May 28, 2014|By David Fleshler, Sun Sentinel
They stand on the beach at night and reel in 10-foot great hammerheads and other big sharks.

Now these anglers may find their activities sharply restricted in Delray Beach, the scene of several spectacular YouTube videos of the big predators being hauled ashore and then released.

The City Commission is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a proposal to ban shore-based shark fishing within 300 feet of its public beach and within 300 feet of Atlantic Dunes Park.

Mayor Cary Glickstein said the ban would protect swimmers from encounters with large predators that wouldn't normally come close to shore. Unlike anglers who cast their lines by hand, the shark catchers use kayaks to set baited hooks much farther from shore, in the deeper water inhabited by large sharks.

"It's a public safety issue and also concern for the sharks," he said. "Most fishermen are fishing with small bait and as far out as they can cast. When you're taking half an amberjack and paddling out 200 yards, you're not looking for yellowtail snapper. There's also concern for the sharks themselves. A lot of species are endangered. There's been a lot of press lately about very large sharks being caught from shore."

But supporters of shore-based shark fishing say the activity poses no threat to swimmers and that restrictions threaten a fundamental part of Florida's heritage.

"We see big sharks swimming close to the beach all the time," Adam Fisk, 22, a Delray Beach resident who has been catching sharks from shore for more than two years. "We're not attracting them to the beach. They're there. When we do it, the people aren't swimming. We do it at night."

Setting up at sunset, he has caught tiger sharks, great hammerheads, bull sharks and other species, using hunks of amberjack or barracuda on hooks. He says he always releases them alive.

"There's no point in bringing them back home," he said. "They don't taste good. I would never kill them."

But some sharks caught from shore, such as the great hammerhead, are classified as endangered globally and are protected under state law. While this can allow catch-and-release fishing, experts say many sharks that swim away after their release die later from the ordeal.

"We have a problem with hammerheads because they are so sensitive," said Sonja Fordham, president of Shark Advocates International. "If they get stressed too much, they're likely to die."

The City Commission actually banned shore-based shark fishing along the entire beach in 2009. But the ban was rarely enforced, and then it came under a legal challenge because Florida law reserves the authority to regulate saltwater fishing to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

Blaine Dickenson, a Boca Raton lawyer and fisherman, sent a letter to Delray Beach last summer on behalf of Shorebound Anglers Alliance Inc., threatening to sue the city if it didn't repeal the ordinance.

"Fishing happens to be one of my favorite pastimes, and it's statutorily recognized as an important part of our economy, our heritage," said Dickenson, who is handling the matter for free. "Some of these folks seem to think they're the only ones entitled to the beach. Florida is changing, for better and for worse. But I do not want people to lose sight of our heritage, and I don't want people to trample it."