'Safety' issue turns 'political' in talks of separating swimming and shark fishing in Navarre

The Santa Rosa County Commission on Thursday formalized a resolution placing a moratorium on the establishment of no fishing zones on Navarre Beach, but in doing so may have created the potential for future conflicts between anglers and swimmers or surfers.

Without comment, board members signaled their support for a resolution introduced by Commissioner James Calkins stating "we support fishermen and their right to fish anywhere in Santa Rosa County" and formalizing a pledge to establish no new no fishing zones on Navarre Beach.

Calkins acknowledged he had worked in conjunction with County Attorney Tom Dannheisser to ensure the language used in the resolution "was safe and secure."

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However, County Administrator DeVann Cook explained that the discussion of no fishing zones was rooted in a potential safety conflict between swimming and shark fishing. At the end of the public forum portion of the meeting, Cook addressed those in attendance to explain how the idea of halting daytime shark fishing on Navarre Beach during prime tourist season had evolved through time and social media chatter.

Cook said that in early May a member of the county's tourist development staff had been approached by someone wanting to create a land-based shark fishing charter business at which tourists could pay to try to reel in a shark.

Sensing the potential for a safety issue and having heard concerns expressed about people shark fishing in the vicinity of swimmers, Cook said he reviewed local ordinances and found the county was within its rights to designate areas for shark fishing and swimming.

He said signs were ordered that would have designated swimming and shark fishing areas.

"I want to make it very clear all we were talking about was shark fishing, and I worked with (Tourist Development Council President) Julie White to come up with the best places for shark fishing and the best places for swimming," he said.

Cook said that he had not consulted any commissioners about the plans to segregate shark fishermen from swimmers and brought all plans to a halt when word began to spread that the county was attempting to halt all fishing from Navarre Beach.

"I was simply handling this as a safety issue, not a political issue," he said.

Santa Rosa called on to enforce Navarre Beach pier buffer zone

The morning meeting began with the majority of 25 residents lined up to discuss what several of them claimed was a backroom effort to establish a moratorium against fishing from the beach.

Resident Al Carlson stood to say that the county needs to start enforcing an ordinance that bans recreational water activities within 300 feet of the Navarre Beach pier.

Carlson informed the commission that the 300-foot zone extends to about the mid-point of the second of three buildings comprising the Summerwind Condominium complex, and the condo managers place beach chairs on the sand behind their buildings.

"A tourist comes down and gets in a beach chair expecting to walk into the water — right into that 300-foot buffer zone," Carlson said.

He said swimmers and surfers tend to pay no attention to posted signs notifying them of the pier buffer zone.

"They pretty much look the other way when you tell them, 'Hey, you gotta move 300 feet, see the signs?'" Carlson said.

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Local anglers said local fishermen "throw big jigs" into the waters off the pier, and deserve to be given the space to do so.

"We pay money to get on that pier to fish, so if I pay money to get on the pier and fish I wanna be able able to fish," Carlson said. "I don't want some tourist down there flipping his finger at me because I'm trying to tell him to move down the beach."

Commissioner Sam Parker said he could see a potential for liability if swimmers violating the 300-foot buffer are injured by a fisherman. He called upon Cook to come up with a way to make sure swimmers are notified to stay clear of the fishing pier, though he acknowledged "the tourist development folks could push back on that."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Santa Rosa Commission acts to protect shark fishing at Navarre Beach