I read with interest Ed Mauer's commentary about the Sarasota Shark Tournament in Florida Fly Fishing Magazine. I understand his feelings.
I wrote a similar piece for publication about two years ago.
It's unfathomable there's still a kill shark tournament being conducted. It's even more amazing that it takes place in upscale Sarasota. And it's deplorable that seemingly no one cares.
Shark tournaments disappeared from the scene in the mid-1980s when shark anglers figured out there was nothing positive resulting from their efforts. One Sarasota sharker, Terry Copeland, was sickened after a huge shark he caught gave birth posthumously on the dock at Hart's Landing.
"A total waste," Copeland remembered saying at the time.
That was the last time the Sarasota antique furniture restorer killed shark.
Sharks, according to Dr. Robert Hueter of Mote Marine Laboratory, have been in serious trouble for the last 2o years because of overfishing. At the height of the tournament rage and because of commercial fishing, they were being harvested faster than they could reproduce. Some sharks were caught, had their fins removed and dumped back into the sea to die. Shark fin soup is a delicacy in the Orient, and fins brought big money.
The fishery teetered on the brink of collapse.
The shark population received a boost when most shark anglers realized they were part of the problem and ended the competitions. Shark tournaments still existed, but with release formats.
Three years ago, one resurfaced locally when the Sarasota tournament was born. What's ironic is that the event was sponsored early on by businesses run by sportsmen involved in the Coastal Conservation Association Florida. In fact, one was a former state CCA board member and past president of the Sarasota Chapter of CCA. That person was questioned about sponsoring the event, but chose not to withdraw sponsorship at the time (the business did not sponsor the last event).
What was even more frustrating is the local newspaper and its TV partner chose to glorify the event through photographs and coverage. Despite numerous columns and stories over the years spotlighting problems with the shark fishery, the paper and TV station chose to ignore and glorify. Either editors there didn't read the columns or didn't believe them.
Or maybe it was simply an opportunity to sell newspapers?
Crowds gathered a weigh-ins held at Island Park near Marina Jack where dead, fly-covered sharks would be hung for the blood-thirsty crowd to ogle as the chest-thumping anglers absorbed the admiration.
All was justified, however, because, according to tournament organizers, all of the rotting meat was donated to needy people.
Let's see if I've got this straight: It's OK for me to kill a shark or a deer or a beer or a squirrel as long as I give it to another person to eat?
What is even further disgusting is that some of the competitors caught, killed and used tarpon, a great and protected Florida gamefish, for shark bait. Anglers may catch, keep and kill a tarpon as long as they have a special $50 tag from the state.
Here's betting the tournament will hold its fourth annual kill clash next year. The local paper doesn't seem to care. Nor does its TV companion.
But what's even more sad is that most Sarasotans or Floridians don't seem to care.
