Shark hearing set
Boatmen ask for turnout against amendment next week

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, Sept. 5, on limiting fishing for blacktip and bull sharks.

The hearing is set for 6 p.m. at the auditorium of The University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institute (MSI).

The proposed amendment to the consolidated highly migratory species fishery management plan restricts fishing for those shark species by recreational anglers and sets trip limits on some coastal sharks for commercial fishermen.

The changes would affect fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

Port Aransas Boatmen Inc. opposes the amendment because it fails to limit the commercial fishing sector, which "harvests thousands upon thousands of large coastal sharks," said Port Aransas Boatmen president Mike Nugent.

"I suppose this is a statement by NMFS that the commercials are much better educated and smarter than (recreational fishermen)," Nugent said in an e-mail message. "In my opinion, this latest proposal is the most outrageous, ill conceived and discriminatory regulation they have come up with yet."

Nugent called for a heavy turnout of local anglers at the hearing "to let NMFS know what Texas thinks about this one."

However, anyone unable to attend the hearing can also submit written comments via e-mail to ShkA2@noaa.gov (include "Shark Amendment 2 comments" in the subject line) or by mail to NMFS at 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910. The outside of the envelope should be marked "Shark amendment 2 comments."