Shark Bait Catches Controversy on Marco Island

Bad blood seems to be pooling in the waters of Marco Island. And it’s not from the shark fishermen, according to law enforcement. 

Fishing poles line the beach behind Sunset Grille on Marco Island as the sun sinks below the horizon on Friday, April 26. Three fishermen eagerly begin casting lines with bait as beachgoers fold up their blankets and beach chairs to leave for the night. 

Jackson Boggs, 8, helps his dad, David Boggs, prepare bait on a hook. It’s a blue fish caught earlier, and the hope is that this will help them reel in a shark. Spoiler: It does.

“He’s like a local celebrity on the beach,” David said of his son.

Jackson knows a lot about fishing and sharks. He rarely spends free time on electronics, and if he does, it’s to learn more about fishing and sharks, he said.

While shark fishing is a bonding moment for the Boggs family and other families that join them on shark fishing charters, for some other Marco Island residents, the sport of shark fishing is seemingly causing concern. They report seeing cut-up fish on the beach in the morning. Anglers said that leftover bait may be washing back ashore despite their efforts to keep the beach clean. 

There have been more than 30 calls to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office and Marco Island Police Department in April, said Michelle Batten, a spokesperson with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office. The calls vary, but officials said they mostly include concerns from residents and beachgoers that the fishermen are chumming the waters, killing endangered species for bait or harming threatened shark species for sport, among other reports.

Chumming means to use bags of blood to create a fish feeding frenzy and it is illegal, officials warn. In addition to it violating state law, City of Marco Island’s Beach Ordinance #08-14, Section 54-36, Regulation of Use and Conduct on the Beach, Item (g) states: It shall be unlawful for any person while on the Beach or within 1,000 feet from shore to fish for sharks or to fish by those methods commonly known as chumming or blood baiting. 

Marco Island City Code also says: Nothing herein shall be construed to create a duty of any sort on the part of any law enforcement officer or city employee to prevent fishing or to warn of the presence of sharks in the Gulf of Mexico.

Marco Island Police Officer Angel Casabona said there are no official reports made from these recent calls because there have been no violations that he has found, particularly no chumming. He said the code doesn’t ban shark fishing but instead reinforces the state’s prohibition of chumming. Also, if operating a business on the beach, a permit is required, Marco officials said. 

Following several interviews with other officials from Marco Island Code Enforcement and the Marco Island Police Department, as well as Collier County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, there have been few, if any, violations related to shark fishing on Marco this year.

Public records requests are pending from CCSO and FWC.

Boggs and other shark fishermen had set up approximately 12 rods and reels, valued at $1,500 to $3,000 each, on the recent Friday for what became a particularly busy evening of shark fishing. They caught an 8-foot lemon, a 12-foot hammerhead, and a four-foot black tip shark, among other fish, which is a lot for one night, they all agreed. The sharks were all released and swam away, with help from the fishermen who had removed their large barbless circle hooks following photographs.

It was not too long before law enforcement came by to patrol the area and they said they were called out to check on the situation. The Marco Island Police officer ensured the men had the proper fishing licenses and David Boggs answered each question with seeming ease. The use of lights occurs mostly just as a shark is reeled in so the fishermen can remove the hook. On May 1, lights will need to be out, except for red lights, for turtle season, Boggs said. 

Other fishermen said they felt a bit more antagonized by having the police called on them each time they fished. 

“This is one of the nicest beaches in America,” Boggs said. 

He stood barefoot on South Beach, operating the remote control of a drone to fly the cut bait, this time a southern ray, out past the second sandbar. 

“People who complain about shark fishing seem to want the beach just for these condo owners. They think it’s their land; they own it. They forget the beach is public,” Boggs said. 

He said he feels it’s an attempt to limit freedoms, but he doesn’t let it get him angry. 

“I try to diffuse it,” said Boggs.

His son seems to catch on to his father’s response. 

“Don’t worry. Nobody is in trouble,” said the young Boggs, Jackson, to his friend as the police officer approached them.

Local police may not know every species they are seeing, said Casabona. So, enforcement is mostly through FWC, which is the state agency that regulates fishing and hunting and enforces its laws. 

Anglers can catch and keep one shark per day, FWC officials report. And if you're on a boat, fishermen may keep two sharks per day per boat. Some species are protected and must be released as quickly and safely as possible without bringing the shark on the beach.

A land-based shark fishing license includes a free course that fisherman Jack Sadler, a Naples resident and a business student at Florida Gulf Coast University, said is very informative.

He, Boggs and other shark fishermen said most shark fishermen release the sharks.

That includes Bruce McComas, one of Southwest Florida’s most well-known shark fishermen. 

“He’s a legend,” said Boggs of McComas.

McComas and Boggs often work together and though their fishing styles are quite different, they complement each other well, they said. 

McComas, currently of Golden Gate Estates, was born and raised in Naples and Marco Island and brings local expertise to decades of shark fishing. He was born at NCH in Naples in 1974, he said proudly. His first job was at the Marco Island McDonald’s, he said. He leads a group, Two Boobs in a Canoe, with Chris Dehart, teaching and sharing enthusiasm for fishing. 

Boggs has some of the highest tech gear, including the drone. Before the drone, McComas would kayak his bait out and then return to land. Now, Boggs shares the drone. 

The men attract a bit of an audience and a larger crowd gathers in the excitement of catching a shark. 

As they recently prepared another line with a southern ray using a large circle hook without barbs on it, a friend of McComas, Tracy Perez, chimed in to note that McComas’s practices show care for the sharks’ wellbeing. He ensures the kids take any photos quickly and he helps swim the sharks back out away from the beach. The goal is to get the shark back swimming as quickly as possible and limit the length of time of reeling it in, especially for hammerheads that will fight to the death.

“That hook in their mouth is like a needle at the dentist to you,” Perez said. 

A person can charter a shark fishing trip with McComas and Boggs at a cost of approximately $1200 for up to eight people, said Boggs.

“Nobody is getting rich off shark fishing,” Boggs said. “But you get rich in experience.”

A few sunset viewers stayed into the night, including Tom Fox and Jill Fox, who said they were visiting from Albion, New York. 

“Whatever brings kids closer to nature is good with us,” said Jill Fox as she watched the group fish.

Due to bans of shark fishing in other areas, several fishermen said they fear a future ban may be lurking in local waters as well. Marine biologists maintain that the greatest threat to the world’s 1,000 or so species of sharks is commercial fishing in which sharks are the bycatch.

Boggs said he remains optimistic.

“I’m happy to show people what we are doing. The truth shall set you free,” he said. "I’m proud of my son. This is something we do together that has helped us bond. We’re out here teaching fishing to the next generation,” Boggs said.

Contact the FWC hotline 888-404-FWCC (3922) if you observe a violation.