OCEAN CITY — Resort officials on Monday passed an emergency ordinance banning an increasingly popular type of shark fishing from the beach that is bringing some big predators right up on the shore.
In response to citizen complaints and concerns, the Mayor and Council passed an ordinance on Monday night that bans shark fishing from the beach by any means other than traditional rod and reel. While the concept certainly isn’t new, over the last few weeks some surf fishermen on the beach in the north end of the resort are utilizing non-conventional methods for getting large baits considerably farther out into the ocean including paddling them out by kayak or even launching them from some type of propulsion device including “potato launchers,” for example.
As a result, the larger baits, including whole tuna carcasses with the heads still attached, are attracting large sharks much farther out then a traditional surf rod would allow and some sharks are being hauled up onto the beach. At least one and perhaps several surf fishermen are operating a quasi-business with people on the beach allowed to take a turn on the reel and then pose with the big sharks, some eight feet long or longer, once they are on the beach.
Councilman Doug Cymek, who knows a little about shark fishing from his years as a co-director of the now-defunct Ocean City Shark Tournament, broached the subject during Monday’s meeting and called for some action from the council to halt the potentially dangerous practice.
“I got several calls,” he said. “We don’t have anything in our code about chumming for fish from the beach, particularly sharks.”
Naturally, traditional surf anglers often catch smaller sand sharks and their dogfish and dusky cousins, but they are not part of the growing problem. Cymek said the problem, which typically occurs early in the morning or later in the evening, needed to be addressed sooner rather than later.
“I don’t want to see it,” he said. “If a bait is not going to be put out by a rod and reel, we’re not going to allow it. It’s very concerning.”
Ocean City Beach Patrol Captain Butch Arbin agreed the problem was growing. He cited National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) guidelines for safely catching and releasing sharks from the shore and a voluntary tagging program, but said what is occurring more frequently on the north-end beaches flies in the face of those guidelines.
“There’s a situation on the beach,” he said. “It happened this morning. It’s happening north of 120th Street in certain spots. I have spoken to the person in charge at NOAA and what they’re doing is going against what NOAA wants them to do. It’s called the apex predator program and it encourages catching and tagging and releasing, but they’re going way beyond that. They’re posing with them and sitting on the sharks.”
While the big sharks are not being hauled up during the day when the beach is crowded, it is catching the attention of visitors who are growing more concerned, according to Arbin.
“It’s not happening during the day,” he said. “It’s happening at sunrise and it’s happening at dusk, but when people see us the next day, they’re coming up and complaining. It’s a problem for us because people are afraid. They see these sharks brought in that wouldn’t be on the beach. They’re afraid they are being lured in and then released back into the swimming area. That scares them because they think the sharks are going to be there the next day.”
Cymek said the Mayor and Council needed to take some action before someone got hurt. With the Maryland Association of Counties (MACo) convention in town next week, the Mayor and Council don’t meet again until August 30 and Cymek urged his colleagues to consider some kind of immediate action.
“I’d like to see incorporated in this to include no landings of sharks on our beach,” he said. “There is a gentleman on the north end taking people out on the beach and launching baited hooks by kayak and when I say baited hooks, I’m talking about big tuna carcasses with the heads still attached. The scary part is, once the shark is caught, he drags it up on the beach and people pose for pictures with it before he releases it.”
Cymek said the concerns stem from the treatment of the sharks, of course, but there are real public safety concerns involved with the practice.
“The disturbing part is, in one of the videos I saw, there were two small children posing next to the mouth of a freshly caught shark,” he said. “It’s one thing if you had a little three-foot shark you can hold in your hands, but some of these I’ve seen are seven and eight feet long.”
With a sense of urgency, the Mayor and Council along with City Solicitor Guy Ayres began crafting language for an emergency ordinance essentially on the fly in order to get something on the books almost immediately. One issue to resolve related to the type of offense the ordinance would dictate.
“The question is should it be a misdemeanor or a municipal infraction?” said Ayres. “The maximum fine for both is $1,000. If it’s a misdemeanor, the state gets the money and if it’s a municipal infraction, we get the money. I don’t see any real benefit for making it a misdemeanor.”
After considerable debate about the scope and language of the proposed emergency ordinance, Ayres decided on a pair of changes to separate sections of the code. One of the changes will cover the types of bait and baiting practices from the shore.
“It shall be unlawful for any person to fish by utilizing those methods commonly referred to as chumming or blood-baiting from the beach or within 600 feet of the beach at any time of the year,” the ordinance reads.
Another section covers the means by which baits can be put out in the ocean.
“It shall be unlawful for any person to fish by utilizing a baited hook sent into the ocean by means of propulsion or by water vessel at any time of the year,” the ordinance reads.
The council unanimously approved the ordinance, then motioned to make it an emergency ordinance given the time-sensitive nature of the issue and that was passed unanimously with Mayor Rick Meehan’s concurrence. Ayres had to formally write up the ordinance and have it signed by the mayor, which is expected to happen by Tuesday afternoon. For his part, Meehan urged the strict enforcement of the ordinance as soon as his signature was on it.
“As soon as this is passed, we need to make sure we get it to the beach patrol and the police department,” he said. “An ordinance is only as good as its enforcement. There are certain areas where we know this is taking place and I think we need to be aggressive with enforcement and monitor the situation and respond to the complaints as we receive them.”
