There are plenty of things wrong in New York State these days and it’s obvious that the state government has caused many problems with the policies they have put in place. High crime rates, surging homelessness and a fleeing population would all fall into this category. But one thing I honestly never expected to see the state government take the blame for is shark attacks. And yet that’s what’s happening this summer. Half a dozen people have already been bitten by sharks while swimming in the waters off of Long Island and nearby shores. But sharks just attack people sometimes, right? It’s just what they do. So how could the state government in Albany possibly be to blame for this? As it turns out, they passed a law back in 2019 that was designed to protect a certain type of baitfish that had been decreasing in numbers. The project was so successful that the fish are now swarming in huge schools very close to the shore. And the sharks are following them in. (NY Post)
Sharks are treating New York waters like a restaurant — and the state government is the Maître d’.
Great whites and other sharks have been coming close to Long Island beaches this year to feast on a particular kind of bait fish that has been flourishing in New York waters ever since the state legislature voted unanimously to preserve it three years ago.
With the population of Atlantic Menhaden booming, sharks are swimming into shore like tourists bellying up to a buffet — and in the process, they are coming close to bathers with disastrous results, experts told The Post.
The Atlantic Menhaden is also known as bunker fish. They are a common source of prey for a variety of ocean fish and coastal birds. Unfortunately, that includes sharks. There are a few species of sharks having “interactions” with people now. (That’s how one state official described the biting incidents.) In addition to a couple of types of sand sharks, it turns out that there is a nursery for great whites located a few miles off of the Long Island coast. A juvenile great white washed up on the shore there last week.
Steve Englebright is the member of the state assembly who sponsored the bill protecting the bunker fish. When he was asked if his legislation was part of the problem, he admitted that it probably was. But he also quickly said that he didn’t think “anyone could have anticipated” that a bunch of sharks would show up and start biting people.
For once, I think I’m going to have to agree with Englebright. Restricting fishing for those baitfish was obviously intended to increase their numbers and that’s what’s happened. But I doubt many people besides marine biologists would have known that they would amass in such numbers so close to the shore.
The real question is what (if anything) they should do about it now. The Governor has released additional funding to hire more lifeguards and place them up high enough to be able to see sharks as they approach the beach. But even if that system worked perfectly (it doesn’t) you would just have a series of sighting alerts being broadcast with beachgoers running back and forth, in and out of the water. So is the answer to repeal the law, allow overfishing to resume, and wait for the sharks to go elsewhere to look for a meal? That doesn’t sound particularly healthy for the ecosystem and it wouldn’t happen overnight.
Perhaps it’s better to simply leave well enough alone. Increase the number of lifeguard stations and keep watch as best we can. Put up signs and warn beachgoers that there are sharks in the area and they are swimming at their own risk. I’m not sure what else they can do short of turning this into a scene from Jaws and find some boat captains who want to go out and start slaughtering sharks. Of course, we all know how that turns out in the end.
