Please Don't Feed the Sharks

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission gave preliminary approval yesterday to a ban on shark-feeding dives. The ban would cover "interactive" shark tours that use cut-up fish bait to lure sharks so that tourists can swim with them. Final approval of the ban could come as soon as November. The commissioners stressed that they didn't think the feeding operations had anything to do with the recent flurry of shark attacks on humans along the Atlantic coast. But several expressed concern that feeding the sharks could condition them to associate humans with food. Enviros celebrated the vote, while tour operators said the commission had betrayed them.