Bill is directed at US sportsfishermen’s complaints about sharks taking fish from their lines.
july 26, 2025
This week, Senators Rick Scott (R-FL) and Brian Schatz (D-HI) introduced the Supporting the Health of Aquatic Systems through Research, Knowledge, and Enhanced Dialogue (SHARKED) Act (S2314). The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation is scheduled to vote Wednesday on legislation to that aims to stop sharks from biting fish on fishing lines.
Send an email or call Senator Scott at (202) 224-5274 or Senator Schatz at 808) 523-2061.
The SHARKED Act directs the Secretary of Commerce to establish a task force dedicated to mitigating shark depredation, which is the consumption of a hooked fish before the angler can land it. If enacted, the bill will convene state and federal fisheries managers, shark experts, and stakeholders to identify and develop techniques and strategies to mitigate harmful interactions between sharks and anglers.
The bill is in response to anglers perceived shark “depredation” with fishermen’s concerns on what has become a growing challenge for saltwater anglers, driven by recovering shark populations, rising angler activity and the learned behavior of sharks associating fishing boats with easy meals. Through improving coordination, research, and education, the SHARKED Act claims to bring attention to the issue of shark depredation while enhancing the angler experience and supporting the sportfishing industry, which provides $230 billion to the U.S. economy. The law would direct NOAA to establish a task force to reduce shark depredation, or the consumption of all or part of a hooked fish before the angler can reel in their catch.
The House of Representatives passed the SHARKED Act in January 2025, less than a month after its introduction. The bill has been forwarded to the Senate Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Shark Stewards has been watching this bill with comments to the House Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Chair Jared Huffman.
According to a letter sent to House Representatives by the American Fisheries Society, American Sportfishing Association and other signatories:
“Shark depredation occurs when a shark eats or damages a hooked fish before an angler can reel
in their catch. In general, the possibility of depredation occurring is accepted as a natural part of
fishing. However, in recent years the frequency of shark depredation has increased rapidly in
many parts of the country, especially along the Atlantic coast, the southeastern U.S. and the
western Pacific. The causes are generally recognized to be increasing fishing activity, increasing
shark abundance and depredation becoming a more frequently learned behavior.”
In the House, the Bill passed through the Committee under suspension of the rules.
The letter adds:
“However, shark depredation is clearly detrimental to anglers and predated fish that would otherwise be released. It also creates an unnatural food source for sharks and exposes them to potentially harmful fishing gear. As the rate of shark depredation has increased, fishermen have become increasingly frustrated by the issue and a lack of response from the fisheries management community.”
The Senate bill has been ammended to read:
(b) Shark depredation research projects.—Section 318(c) of the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act (16 U.S.C. 1867(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(6) Projects to better understand shark depredation, including identifying what causes increases in shark depredation and determining how to best address shark depredation.”
Many of the letters of support come from the recreational fishermen in Florida and Texas where interactions with nearshore sharks like the blacktip and Carribean reef sharks migrate and forage inshore. We are concerned that the committee will be over-represented by the fishing industry and data skewed, and relying heavily on user experiences and relies heavily on one study in 2017 on increases of some sharks in the Western Atlantic.
Depredation is a complex issue, one that reflects the health of our ocean ecosystems as a whole,” says Dr. Jasmine Graham, CEO of Minorities in Shark Science. “As fish populations decline, both sharks and fishers are competing for the same limited resources. Sharks are becoming habituated to areas with fishing boats, chum, and bait, while increasingly effective fishing gear is putting pressure on the system and increasing the possibility of interactions. As we address this issue, we must tread carefully. We must ensure that our efforts to address shark depredation don’t undo the progress we’ve made or ignore the deeper, underlying causes of these challenges.”
Shark populations are on the decline, including the Western Atlantic Mako shark that has been overfished, the critically endangered Great Hammerhead shark that shares its range with the vaunted Tarpon fishery and and oceanic whitetip sharks that have declined by over 95%. As the fishing industry has grown, prey populations have declined in the past five decades, creating competition between humans and sharks. One third of sharks are threatened with extinction. Sharks have declined by 71% worlwide since 1970, primarily due to overfishing. Shark Stewards is submitting comments and urging lawmakers to rely on scientists and fisheries managers, supporting stock assessment work and better, transparent data, and caution any shark management or culling decisions. Moreover, no consideration in the Act has been given to native cultures beliefs or practices. We support better science and dialogue, but oppose any efforts to cull sharks, targeting sharks perceived as a threat to fishermenʻs catch, or measures to prevent sharks from their natural habitat or foraging behavior.
- Peterson et al. 2017. Preliminary recovery of coastal sharks in the south-east United States. Fish and Fisheries (18):845-859. 2 NOAA HMS, 2021. 2021 Stock Assessment and Fishery Evaluation Report for Atlantic Highly Migratory Species. National Marine Fisheries Service, Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Division. 250 pp
- According to a 2022 study from University of Mass Amherst, more than 77% of anglers have experienced shark depredation while fishing.