By Emily Rose Finn
Manalapan has recast its shore-based shark fishing crackdown as a nuisance law, leaving fishing regulation to the state while keeping a 100-yard buffer between hooks and swimmers.
Commissioners revamped an ordinance they approved in May because of concerns that it might be perceived as stepping on laws that give the state the power to regulate fishing. The new version, approved at the Sept. 8 commission meeting, renames the code section “Prohibited Fishing Related Nuisance Activities, and Other Nuisance Activities.”
It still treats fishing with hooks, line and bait within 100 yards of swimmers, beachgoers, paddleboarders, kayakers or jet skiers as a prohibited nuisance. It is included with other town regulations that ban trespassing on private beaches, provide for littering and noise violations, and, during sea turtle nesting season, ban nighttime beach lighting other than red or amber.
The ordinance acknowledges that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has authority over shore-based shark fishing, and it lists the state’s rules: a permit, circle hooks, cable cutters on hand, no chumming and no drones. The revised language “is a direct result of discussions the Town had with FWC based on FWC recommendations,” a staff report said.
Residents are asked to report nuisance violations to town police and shark fishing violations to FWC or police. The ordinance authorizes signs at beach accesses and bridges.
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