Ocean and Coastal Law Journal Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

Volume 27 Number 1 Article 8

June 2022

Protecting Beaches from Bites: Shark Management Programs in Protecting Beaches from Bites: Shark Management Programs in

New England New England

Grayson P. Szczepaniak

University of Maine School of Law

Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.mainelaw.maine.edu/oclj

Recommended Citation Recommended Citation

233

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

I. BACKGROUND

II. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN PUBLIC PERCEPTION AND LEGISLATIVE

IV. IMPLEMENTING SHARK MANAGEMENT POLICIES

V. NEXT STEPS: POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR NEW ENGLAND

CONCLUSION

234 OCEAN AND COASTAL LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 27:1&2

2022] NEW ENGLAND SHARK CONTROL MANAGEMENT 235

In July 2020, Maine experienced its first-ever fatal shark attack.

Such

alike are more apprehensive about going in the water,

but this

apprehension stems from a long history of negative and inaccurate

portrayals of sharks. These negative perceptions hinder the

implementation of shark control measures that will protect beachgoers

without diminishing current shark populations.

This comment utilizes available scientific research to propose shark

management strategies for New England beaches and corresponding

implementation legislation. Part I will provide a background on sharks and

their prevalence in New England. Part II will then explore the evolution of

societys perceptions of sharks from the 1900s until now, followed by an

dedicated to shark education and policy, with the ultimate goal of

Attacks (1837 - Present), FLORIDA MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, https://www.florida

3. Id.

4. See, e.g., Caitlyn Francis & Andrew Masse, Scientists Seeing an Increase in Shark

Sightings off the New England Coast, WFSB (July 13, 2021), https://ktvz.com/cnn-

5. See, e.g., Mike Beaudet, With No Signs of Sharks Abating, Frustration Continues

Over Massachusetts Response, WCVB (Sept. 30, 2021), https://www.wcvb.

236 OCEAN AND COASTAL LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 27:1&2

I. BACKGROUND

Sharks have been present on Earth for over 450 million years,

in average shark size coincided with mass extinction events such as the

large asteroid strike at the end of the Cretaceous period.

extinction event, shark species began to branch off, giving us the diverse

array of species present in the ocean today.

At one time, sharks existed in large numbers because they sit at the

top of the food chain with very few natural predators.

The greatest threat

to their existence today is humans. As a result of targeted culling

campaigns, shark finning, and fisheries bycatch, shark population numbers

have dwindled over the years.

These practices have led the International

Union for Conservation and Nature (IUCN) to designate seventy-nine

6. Josh Davis, Shark Evolution: A 450 Million Year Timeline, NAT. HIST. MUSEUM,

7. Lucas Joel, The Secrets of how Sharks Survived so Many of Earths Mass

Extinctions, NEW SCIENTIST (June 26, 2019), https://www.newscientist.com/

11. Id.

SHARKS 1 (July 2008); see also Ed Yong, The Predator that Makes Sharks Flee in Fear,

13. E. GRIFFIN ET AL., supra note 12, at 5 (Surveys show that the abundance of the 11

14. Shark Specialist Group, Frequently Asked Questions: Sharks, Rays, and

2022] NEW ENGLAND SHARK CONTROL MANAGEMENT 237

The urgency behind shark conservation is driven by the drastic

changes in the ocean ecosystem that result from a decline in the

populations of apex predators, such as an abundance of prey, the collapse

had to be shut down.

This example illustrates the vital role sharks play in

the trophic system, as commercial fisheries are clearly subject to indirect

impacts resulting from dwindling shark populations that may ultimately

lead to their failure if not abated. Such failure would be detrimental to New

England, where commercial fisheries are a valuable source of revenue and

economic prosperity.

Another study from 2019 looked at the decline of the great white shark

population at Seal Island in South Africa, which coincided with the

unprecedented appearance of sevengill sharks in the area.

they are not yet certain, researchers hypothesized that the absence of great

In response to declining shark numbers, and to take action to protect

18. See generally Northeast Socioeconomic Data Products, NOAA FISHERIES,

19. Neil Hammerschlag et al., Disappearance of White Sharks Leads to the Novel

Emergence of an Allopatric Apex Predator, the Sevengill Shark, 9 SCI. REP. 1, 1 (2019).

20. Id. at 4.

21. Notorynchus cepedianus, FLA. MUSEUM OF NAT. HIST., https://www.

within the species, the only other predators of sevengill sharks are large sharks. Id.

238 OCEAN AND COASTAL LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 27:1&2

companies have stopped transporting and selling fins altogether, and

restaurants have taken shark fin soup off their menus permanently.

Beyond these, new measures of protection are constantly being explored.

Protection Act

was passed by the United States Congress, making it

illegal to harass, feed, hunt, capture, or kill any marine mammal,

including seals. Since the passage of the Act, seal populations have

rebounded and are found in abundance, especially in the Northwest

Atlantic Ocean.

Because seals are a staple in the diet of the great white

shark,

is correlated with the increase in the great white shark population off the

coast of New England.

Many locals have called for the removal of seals

through a cull, or massive slaughter, to control the shark population;

however, researchers claim such dire action is unnecessary as the seal

popular delicacy in Chinese culture. Caty Fairclough, Shark Finning: Sharks Turned Prey,

23. Fairclough, supra note 22.

27. Patrick Whittle & Michael Casey, Conservation Success or Pests? Seals Spark

Passionate Debate, ABC NEWS (Oct. 5, 2020, 10:09 AM),

28. Sharks in Atlantic Coastal Waters, NOAA FISHERIES,

29. Doug Fraser, Sharks and Seals: A Success Story on Cape Cod, CAPE COD TIMES

2022] NEW ENGLAND SHARK CONTROL MANAGEMENT 239

and limited food availability.

above, [s]eals play important roles in the coastal ecosystem, and their

large numbers are a sign of a healthy environment.

a result of the abundance of prey. However, scientists have been unable to

point to a definitive cause and have other hypotheses as well.

In addition

to the increasing seal population, warmer ocean waters could be playing a

role. Previously, it was not uncommon for great whites migration patterns

to extend all the way up to Nova Scotia.

Inconsistent with prior patterns,

however, is that the same sharks are spending more time in these areas,

Sharks

are ectothermic creatures, meaning they cannot generate their own body

heat.

Thus, as waters closer to the poles warm, new areas are reaching an

acceptable temperature for habitation and migration patterns are changing

fatality, residents were sent into various stages of caution and panic.

30. Sophie Ruehr, Culling Seals is Wrong Answer to Shark Threat, Scientists Say, THE

33. See, e,g,, Paul Withers, Why More Great White Sharks are Showing up in Atlantic

Canada, CBC (July 8, 2020 6:00 AM), https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-

34. Sarah Gibbens, New Englanders May Soon See More Great White Sharks, NATL

35. Id.

36. R.A. Skubel et al., Patterns of Long-Term Climate Variability and Predation Rates

by a Marine Apex Predator, the White Shark Carcharodon Carcharias, 587 Marine

240 OCEAN AND COASTAL LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 27:1&2

News outlets were regularly reporting shark sightings off the coasts of

Maine and Massachusetts.

were spending time on the water, the reports died down and the excitement

currently being utilized by other countries and to make informed decisions

to implement shark-human interaction measures, and further, to be the first

states to implement such measures in the United States. But first, the

public perception must be shifted to a more favorable view of sharks to

elicit a positive response from legislatures and other policy-makers.

II. THE CONNECTION BETWEEN PUBLIC PERCEPTION AND LEGISLATIVE

RESPONSE

The general publics perception of sharks is closely associated with

of shark culls or other lethal strategies. However, in recent years, the

popular recreational activity and the average bather knew or cared little

about sharks and the tales became accepted as simply sailors lore and

38. See, e.g., Francis & Masse, supra note 4.

2022] NEW ENGLAND SHARK CONTROL MANAGEMENT 247

interactions.

Such language would include substituting shark bite for

shark attack, as well as other less malicious words such as sightings

and encounters.

Additionally, numerous studies have shown that

ability to rewrite the narrative through intent-based counter framing.

Describing human-shark interactions in this way will give viewers a

different image of sharks: one that allows the public to recognize that

humans are not being targeted by sharks, interactions are not as common

as the media portrays them to be, and sharks are valuable to our ecosystem

and need to be conserved. This change in attitude is vital for implementing

public policies that protect both bathers and sharks.

an analysis of articles from Australian newspapers identified a correlation

between government response and public support can be reconciled by

something must be done moments.

Government officials are under

87. Neff, Public Discourse, supra note 82, at 70.

88. Id.

89. Christopher Neff, Human Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Sharks, in SHARKS:

Klein eds. 2014) [hereinafter Neff, Human Perceptions].

90. Pepin-Neff & Wynter, supra note 54, at 228.

91. McCagh et al., supra note 74, at 276.

248 OCEAN AND COASTAL LAW JOURNAL [Vol. 27:1&2

emotional events that can be politically penalizing for elected officials,

and therefore they may take immediate, responsive actions in an attempt

to appeal to their constituents. As Christopher Neff, expert on the

man is the referent object that needs to be secured and nature is

the threat. Nature has a wrath. Storms have fury. And animals get

a taste for human flesh. Such rhetorical framing devices influence

public perceptions of nature, which in turn shapes both the

tolerable thresholds for their occurrence and the types of policies

enacted to counter the perceived threat to humans.