At a House Natural Resources Subcommittee Hearing before the Congressional recess, Rep. Webster (R-FL) spoke in support of his proposed Florida Safe Seas Act that would crack down on hand-feeding sharks.
00:00I now recognize Congressman Webster for five minutes.
00:06Thank you, Madam Chair. My bill, the Florida Safe Seas Act, is a common-sense approach to ensuring the public safety of Florida's swimmers, divers, beachgoers, lots of people.
00:23Thus far this year, there have been eight reported shark attacks. Three of them have been in my home state of Florida.
00:32In fact, 20 years ago, when I was in the state senate, Florida took action to address the dangers of sharks by
00:42opposing the water ban in the waters of our waters for hand-feeding of sharks in the warm waters of Florida, state waters of Florida.
00:59So because hand-feeding, that sort of conditions the shark to understand or think that there's humans, there's food.
01:11So it conditions them to know that, and my bill aligns the federal law with existing state law by prohibiting the hand-feeding of sharks in the federal waters off the coast of Florida as well.
01:25Currently, the federal government prohibits shark feeding in exclusive economic zones like Hawaii and the U.S. territories of the Pacific.
01:35The Florida Safe Seas Act simply adds Florida to that list and provides ourselves with a kind of a – we have sort of a unique ecotourism in Florida,
01:51and it provides for both Floridians and visitors to enjoy things like our wildlife.
01:57And by maintaining safety, that would be a priority for us.
02:03So as many of you know, the federal lands where it – whether it be a national park or a preserve or wildlife refuge,
02:15visitors are reminded time and time again not to feed the animals and the wildlife.
02:19Yet, in the federal waters, it is not prohibited.
02:24It's actually permissible.
02:26My bill would ensure that the safety of Floridians in seas and address a practice that has unnecessarily put our beachgoers and divers in harm's way.
02:39And we want to protect them.
02:42Thank you for –
02:42The gentleman would yield?
02:43Thank you, Mr. Webster.
02:47That's important.
02:48This is the 50th anniversary of the Jaws movie, and I still don't feel safe going back in the water yet after seeing that as a kid.
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