RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper signed a new law into the books on Friday taking aim at shark fishing tournaments.
While it might seem obscure, the new law targets something that caused quite a stir along the North Carolina coast recently.
The new law prohibits shore-based shark tournaments on various beaches in the southeast portion of the state during “tourist season.”
Last summer, Marty Wright, owner of Madkingz Tackle Shop in Southport, planned a week-long shark-catching tournament along Brunswick County beaches. The tournament was originally planned from July 15 through July 22.
But, at least one island mayor pushed back against the plan — reasoning vacationers don’t want to swim where people are fishing for sharks. Holden Beach Mayor Alan Holden told WECT that his town took legal action to prevent the tournament.
St. James Fishing Club, based in Southport, also spoke out against the tournament, which would stretch from Oak Island to Ocean Isle Beach.
The club board of directors said the tournament was “at the height of the tourist season on our beaches. While sharks are normal around our coastal properties and beaches they should not be enticed to coastal waterfronts.”
A Brunswick County District Court judge later canceled the tournament on October 4 last year, according to The Star News.
And now, with the new law signed by the governor, it apparently will not ever happen during the tourist season, which is defined in the bill as May 1 through October 31.
The new law says it is “unlawful to take sharks as part of a recreational fishing tournament where the person landing the shark is on the shore or on a structure attached to the shore of Carolina Beach, Caswell Beach, Holden Beach, Kure Beach, Oak Island, Ocean Isle Beach, Sunset Beach, or Bald Head Island.”
This new law House Bill 544 becomes effective July 1.