About five dive operators conduct feeding tours in South Florida's clear waters -- one in Broward County and several in the Keys. They feed fish scraps to sharks, barracuda, stingrays and moray eels while their customers -- who have paid $50-$100 -- watch. The practice has angered some environmental and spearfishing groups, who contend the feedings train sharks and other marine creatures to associate humans with food, making the fish more aggressive.

Commissioners are expected to vote on the proposed rule at their May meeting after FWC staff members draft a specific proposal. There should be a public hearing to gather more information. There have been no deaths associated with divers feeding sharks or fish, but there have been numerous incidents of fish and eels biting people. Several divers testified at the meeting of other divers being bitten while feeding sharks.

Commissioner Edwin Roberts of Pensacola told of a harrowing dive trip with his children to Sombrero Light off Marathon, where dive operators sometimes feed sharks. ``The nurse sharks ran me and my kids out of the water,'' Roberts said. ``I was having to beat [the sharks] to keep them off my kids.''

Commissioners voted after hearing from a half-dozen speakers -- all opposed to underwater fish feedings. Nobody defended the practice. Jeff Torode of South Florida Diving Headquarters, who conducts popular shark- and fish-feeding dives at sites off Pompano Beach and Boca Raton, said the move won't put him out of business, but ``will put a huge crimp in our business.''

Reached at home Thursday, Torode was shocked by the commission's action, even though he was once bitten on the hand by a moray eel. ``Unbelievable,'' he said. ``We're going to rally the troops again. We'll get [scuba certification agencies] involved. There's no way they'll allow legislation in Florida governing scuba. We'll have to show up at the meeting and try to change the [commissioners'] minds. It's stupid. It's unenforceable and it won't work.''

But several Broward spearfishers told commissioners the practice is dangerous and should be banned. ``We know of 19 people in the past two years injured on these dives,'' Robert Dimond of Deerfield Beach said. ``We have been harassed by sharks and we're tired of it. When we went to the feeders and asked them to stop, they laughed at us.''

Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel
Sun. 6 Feb 2000

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission took everyone by surprise last week when it voted to develop a rule that prohibits divers and snorkelers from feeding sharks in state waters. Going into the FWC's meeting in Jacksonville, the belief of those on both sides of the issue was that the commission would defer any decisions until it had more data. But the FWC's eight commissioners didn't need any proof that feeding sharks, moray eels and fish can cause problems.

"The commission was great," said David Earp of Pompano Beach, who admitted he was caught off-guard by the FWC's ruling. "They all seemed to understand it, and they realized they couldn't let it go on." Earp, along with Bob Dimond and Stephen Picardi, wrote a proposal to ban shark feeding that was presented to the FWC at a marine fisheries management workshop in West Palm Beach in September. A number of dive operators who run shark-feeding trips in South Florida also were at that workshop, and the debate was often intense. The anti-feeders said sharks that are fed were making spearfishing dangerous. The pro-feeders contended spear-fishermen were attracting sharks by not immediately bringing each fish they shot back to their boats.

At a follow-up workshop in Dania Beach in October, there seemed to be little hope that the issue would be resolved soon. Both sides offered compelling testimony. There were recreational divers who were terrorized when sharks suddenly showed up expecting to be fed and longtime shark feeders who said they'd never seen a shark that was even remotely aggressive.

The reaction of FWC staffers at the workshop was that they would probably have to spend a lot of time trying to find out if feeding sharks affects their behavior and makes them lose their fear of humans. When the issue came before the commission Thursday, one of the recommendations was to create a panel that would help the shark feeders regulate themselves. None of those in favor of feeding sharks spoke at the meeting and only half a dozen, including Earp, spoke against the practice. The commissioners, however, had heard enough. Especially after Commissioner Edwin Roberts related how he and his children were harassed by sharks near a feeding site off Marathon.

In voting unanimously in favor of a ban, the commissioners essentially agreed that feeding sharks does not help the species. No one has been killed while feeding sharks and moray eels, but several have been bitten. The next step is to come up with a rule, then have a public hearing and a vote on it. A proposal should be ready by May. Earp said he expects shark-feeders to be out in force at that meeting.

"I think we'll see some opposition next time," said Earp, a commercial lobster diver who recently had a bull shark sneak up on him. "[A ban] is a great step in keeping our ocean safe for everybody. I think in the long run it will benefit both the dive and tourist industries to have the safest waters possible."