[Frank Whiton]

Hi tbrillinger223,

I think it is getting close that some action may be needed about the sharks in Florida waters. There has been a big push to preserve the sharks but we may have went too far in our conservation efforts. Sharks are neat fish but they may be getting out of hand. They are smart and have learned that fishermen mean a free lunch. I think Florida has a shark problem what do you think?

[tbrillinger223]

Frank,

we lost aprox. 19 fish between 3 anglers to sharks last sunday.(not counting the sharks we hooked intentionaly) we werent the only boat on the wreck either. if we hooked up on something they were on us, the others hooked up it was the same. There is a definite problem with the sharks here in south florida, I know many guides and friends that fish inshore and offshore, they all say the same thing... there is a growing problem with the sharks in both the Atlantic and Gulf waters.

How would you feel if you booked a trip to E.N.P. (Flamingo) or Chocoloskee, The Keys or Biscayne Bay spent $450.00 a day to go fishing and you hook the largest fish you have ever hooked in you life and fought it for a few minutes only to loose that fish to a large shark or several small ones?

The F.W.C. needs to do the samething that they did with the alligator population, once the animal has reached stable numbers assign a lottery type system to allow an angler to harvest a shark between lets say 6'-10'. the angler must purchase a liscense that allows them to harvest 2 sharks between those sizes, during the months of June-October (hurricane season). This is a growing problem during the summer only!!