If you have been hit up by the taxman while fishing the waters around Florida recently, you are not alone, nor were the odds in your favor. A new study published in the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) Journal of Marine Science has shown that nearly half of anglers fishing in Florida have dealt with shark depredation. Confirming what Charter Captains and Saltwater anglers have been saying for years: they are getting sharked more than ever. This citizen-science-based project used social media content analysis, online angler surveys, and cooperative fishery-dependent charters to build an in-depth knowledge base of how sharks affected the Florida fishery. On average, 43% of anglers experienced some shark depredation. The probability of getting sharked ranges from 10% to 60%, depending on the area and season. The study also found that bull sharks were the most prevalent species for depredation incidents, with 38.5% involving them, and that snappers and groupers were the most common targets of sharks and other predators.
“A typical day of offshore fishing on our reefs we can run through 5- 10 weights and or 10 to 30 hooks. It is not uncommon to have groups of sharks follow our fish up to the boat 3-4 in a pack chasing one fish. Often times every fish that we turn off the bottom on a reef/wreck will get sharked. The only way to avoid it is to leave and try another. Last year we even had sharks attacking our fish released via descending devices on their way back to the bottom” – Florida Captain Logan Dezan of Top to Bottom Fishing Company
Hopefully, with new information like this and more legislation like the recent SHARKED Act, science-based strategies to deal with the uptick in shark depredation can be formed while still keeping a balance between conservation and recreational fishing interests.
Writer for AllOutdoor.com and OutdoorHub.com Lifelong angler that will fish for anything that swim, firearms enthusiast, and hunter. Instagram – mrfish49
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