Florida anglers are concerned that sharks are taking more seats at the dinner table.

BY MIKE CONNER

If you’ve had a shark kill a hooked fish of a lifetime during the battle, well, like most anglers, you would be inclined to say there’s at least one shark too many.

But is there an actual over-abundance of sharks? Or simply more of them gathered in specific places, such as over spawning aggregations of gamefish? Or those hard-fished places where anglers constantly ring a loud dinner bell by simply hooking and fighting fish? Whatever the case, the general consensus is that shark depredation is on the rise. They are taking more seats at the dinner table.

Many shark populations are declining or overfished on a global scale. Most are slow-growing, late to mature, apex predators that have few offspring. Their habitat is declining, they are commonly killed for food or as bycatch, and are poorly managed in many countries and international waters. However, strong regulations, particularly in the United States, have resulted in a rebound of many shark species. As a result of that recovery, and Florida is a perfect example, shark-angler interactions and shark depredation are making headlines.

In a published study, researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst quantified the emotional and behavioral responses to shark depredation and discovered that recreational anglers and fishing guides who experienced depredation negatively respond towards sharks and are thus more likely to target and kill them in an effort to “thin the herd.”

Florida’s Shark Protection Measures

Jessica McCawley, Director of Marine Fisheries Management for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), is quick to call shark conservation in Florida waters a success.

“Yes, sharks are again plentiful in Florida waters because the state is a leader in shark protection with a no-kill policy for lemon, tiger, white and hammerhead sharks. We know that these apex predators are vitally important to the marine ecosystem,” says McCawley. “Due to Florida’s conservation measures, there are no shortages of sharks in Florida state waters, or neighboring federal waters, though you may hear a different assessment from researchers referring to sharks on a global scale.”

McCawley cites the strict one-per-person-per-day (maximum two per vessel) shark harvest limit in state waters that applies to both commercial and recreational fishers. She claims this has resulted in historic low shark landings.

FWC has convened public meetings since May 2021 with both recreational and commercial fishers in attendance, and a panel made up of shark scientists, fisheries biologists, charter captains, commercial wholesale dealers and others to discuss possible measures to decrease the likelihood of depredation, one of which is relaxing the bag limits on some species of sharks.

Depredation on Many Fronts

Reports of increasing shark depredation range from the shallowest flats to beaches, reefs, backcountry, and even blue water offshore. In the Keys, guides and anglers have noted that the apparent upsurge in bull shark populations seems to be the crux of the issue.

Capt. Richard Black of Blackfly Charters lives in the Upper Keys and is versatile in that he is equally at home in the backcountry of the Everglades as he is in blue water offshore. He reports increasing shark incidents everywhere he guides. Black claims that sharks now zero in on sailfish when he is kite-fishing, noting that “A sail that makes a lot of commotion before eating a bait seems to attract bull or sandbar sharks quite readily.”

As for tarpon, he agrees that bridge-fishing with bait takes the greatest toll. “The bridge crowd tends to want to take a photo of every tarpon they bring alongside, and they spend long hours in one place. Those released fish are easy pickings for sharks,” says Black. “Fly anglers need to know that staking out for oceanside tarpon does not particularly attract sharks. On the flip side, backcountry basins hold greater numbers of sharks, so the chance of losing a tarpon back there is greater. And it so happens that sharks will come in on a laid-up poon.”

When asked whether bonefish loss to sharks on Keys flats is as common as it sometimes is in the Bahamas, Black said no. “Bonefish are not frequently eaten here, due to the fact that we routinely move from spot to spot most days. We are not chumming. Sharks don’t have a long opportunity to home in on us when we target bonefish,” Black explains. “But the backcountry redfish and snook flats are a different story. In the Florida Bay bights, summer water temps soar, and released fish can be easy prey for the lemon sharks up there. It’s not so much shark attacks on fish on the line. It’s later, once they are released. We fight fish hard and fast to give them the best chance to recover. I scan those waters with binoculars to determine if sharks are present. Sometimes there are so many, we just look elsewhere.”

Black claims he has lost six permit and just a couple of bones to sharks, but in this past year’s Herman Lucerne Tournament, he and his anglers were forced to leave a few redfish flats because they knew released fish would be sharked.

Black recommends anglers do the following to limit shark depredation. One, be willing to move elsewhere when sharks are numerous. Two, fight fish aggressively to release them in better shape. And three, follow catch-and-release guidelines, as outlined by Bonefish & Tarpon Trust.

Capt. Scott Hamilton of Fly Fishing Extremes Charters specializes in offshore and nearshore fly fishing from Boca Raton to Stuart, for false albies, kingfish, blackfin tuna, mahi-mahi, giant jack crevalle, sharks, mackerel, snook and pompano, and has strong feelings about sharks.

“First, I agree that sharks are more numerous now than years ago. They take an increasing number of fish we hook, but I’m on the fence when it comes to anglers killing more of them boatside to thin them out,” says Hamilton. “I don’t know what the answer is.”

Hamilton doesn’t chum anymore for his customers. “Yet sharks, mainly sandbars, bulls and tigers, find us quickly,” he says. “It’s uncanny, but we are now lucky to get half of our bonitos (false albacore) to the boat. If we lose two in a row, we crank up and relocate. Even out in 300 feet, I can’t even get a blackfin tuna to the boat anymore, which saddens me because they are phenomenal fly fish.”

Hamilton says one bright spot is pompano in the surf. He is not experiencing the sometimes heavy loss of pompano to sharks that the on-foot anglers are. Some days, it’s hard to get hooked pompano to shore, and sharks take small bonefish and permit, too. “We are casting flies to them, not bait, and I stay clear of the “sand spike” crowd. I suspect that the more rods on a beach, the more fish hooked, and that is likely what attracts so many blacktips and bulls.

Out of Marathon, Capt. Jimmy Gagliardini of High Caliber Charters sees an unmistakable increase in shark depredation both inshore and offshore.

“I noticed an uptick in various shark species around 1995, and it has only become worse since,” says Gagliardini. “I cater to reef anglers here, and yellowtail and mutton snapper are most commonly killed in my boat. Contrary to common belief, it’s not so much the chumslick that attracts bull sharks and sandbar sharks, it’s the hooked, struggling fish, or multiple hooked fish that does it.”

Gagliardini points out the fact that sharks such as bulls that used to vacate features like the popular Marathon Hump at particular times of year now stay put year-round. “I’m not so sure there are that many more sharks overall. It’s possibly a function of their constant presence now. At the Hump, if we lose a grouper to a shark, we simply are not putting another bottom bait down. That’s wasting the resource,” says Gagliardini. “Other anglers are willing to feed five fish to sharks just to get one in the box.”

Gagliardini added that when he does bridge tarpon charters, he sometimes has to run the sharks off of hooked tarpon with his boat. In response to the increase in shark-angler interactions in the Keys, Bonefish & Tarpon Trust (BTT) is exploring means of deterring sharks in specific locales.

Adapting For The Future

Dr. Aaron Adams, BTT Director of Science and Conservation, says it’s great news that sharks are rebounding in Florida waters, but suggests that the across-the-board decline in both habitat health and general fish/prey stocks have a hand in the behavioral change in sharks that should have anglers up in arms.

“It’s still the same old single-species management rather than system-level management, which would be better,” says Adams. “Shark protection measures have worked to increase shark numbers in Florida waters, but they are increasingly turning to targeting hooked fish where anglers fish most.”

Adams points to an experience he had in the Bahamas as an example of this conditioning. “I was wading a bonefish flat and caught a fish or two and I didn’t see any lemon sharks in the area,” he says. “A guided poling skiff came onto the flat and in short order, the lemons came out of nowhere. I suspect the boat was a signal flag that hooked bonefish might be available to them.” Adams adds that when sharks rule the roost where he is fly fishing, he changes gears. “I have no problem taking what the place gives me,” he says. “I fish for the sharks! They are a terrific fly fish.”

So the consensus seems to be that Florida fisheries are being impacted by sharks to some degree. And BTT is not alone in its concern about ramped up shark depredation. There is broadbased concern within the fishery conservation community about the issue, including from the Billfish Foundation and the Florida Keys guides associations. The occurrences are not natural predator-prey interaction. We should classify it as shark-angler interaction because this level of depredation does not happen without the angler in the equation. Anglers and guides should employ the measures mentioned here that decrease the contact with sharks while fishing, and better engage fisheries agencies to help develop a solution.

Mike Conner formerly guided fly and light-tackle anglers from Florida Bay to the Indian River Lagoon, and has written features for numerous outdoor publications. He currently serves as Conservation Editor for Florida Sportsman magazine.