The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

AN operations manager at Stuart Cove stopped short of calling for chumming to be outlawed, but said the practice needs to be controlled.

Travis Cove’s comment came after 44-year-old newlywed Lauren Erickson Van Wart of Massachusetts was killed while paddle boarding at the Sandals Resort when a shark bit her.

Bahamas Humane Society president Kim Aranha has since called on people to stop chumming in public swimming areas.

Stuart Cove, an excursion business, offers patrons a chance to interact with sharks.

Mr Cove acknowledged safety issues regarding chumming, but said not all people throw food into the water with sharks in mind.

 “Chumming is with the intent of bringing sharks, and you know, I’m not saying these fishermen or anybody that is dealing with fish is intentionally trying to bring the sharks to them,” he said. “Obviously, if you got a dead fish carcass, just throw it into the ocean and feed our environment. I wouldn’t say that’s chumming.”

 “I mean, there could be a better way to go about it, but chumming itself with the intention of riling up the sharks is not always the safest and needs to be in a controlled way.”

 “You get a lot of foreigners coming into the country wanting the crazy videos and such of the sharks, and we refuse to allow them to put any chum-sickles.

 “Whether that’s a frozen block of fish in the water or shooting any sort of blood or anything in a non-controlled manner because the last thing we want is to lose control because it’s hard to even grasp that in the first place.”

 “So we want to make sure that we’re limiting the risk at all costs. What we do with the fish in the water is we have a singular pieces of fish that have been actually pre-soaked in the water.”

 Mr Cove said shark attacks have adverse impacts on his business.

 “Nobody wants to see this in the industry, and a lot of the weight falls on our shoulders because we’re doing the practice of feeding the sharks,” he said. “So it’s very easy to put a lot of blame on us despite us being pioneers in the field and having a lot of knowledge. I think the best thing we can do is provide knowledge about the sharks.”

 He said calls to kill sharks are dangerous and fail to grasp the important role sharks play in waters.

 “When you’re killing the predators that are weeding out the sickly fish, the diseased fish, when you do that, you’re taking out the regulation of the ocean and it’s going to affect our fisheries,” he said.

“It’s going to affect the fishermen who are relying on fishing and such and having a healthy environment to support their families and such. I think it’s important that we need to get educated before we make decisions.”

 Mr Cove emphasised that sharks have no interest in human blood or flesh, but are attracted to fish.