Your #1 source for blades and firearms news and updates…

  • Home
  • Knives
  • News
  • Hunting
  • Tactical
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Videos
Subscribe
Font ResizerAa
Blade ShopperBlade Shopper
  • News
  • Knives
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Tactical
  • Hunting
  • Videos
Search
  • Home
  • Knives
  • News
  • Hunting
  • Tactical
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Videos
banner
Create an Amazing Newspaper
Discover thousands of options, easy to customize layouts, one-click to import demo and much more.
Learn More

Stay Updated

Get the latest headlines, discounts for the military community, and guides to maximizing your benefits
Subscribe

Explore

  • Photo of The Day
  • Opinion
  • Today's Epaper
  • Trending News
  • Weekly Newsletter
  • Special Deals
Home » Massachusetts Just Banned Most Shark Fishing from Land, Blaming Anglers Who Want ‘That Viral Video’ with a Great White

Massachusetts Just Banned Most Shark Fishing from Land, Blaming Anglers Who Want ‘That Viral Video’ with a Great White

Adam Green By Adam Green April 7, 2025 6 Min Read
Share
Massachusetts Just Banned Most Shark Fishing from Land, Blaming Anglers Who Want ‘That Viral Video’ with a Great White

Fisheries officials in Massachusetts don’t want anglers targeting great white sharks, especially not from public beaches, and they just approved new regulations to crack down on the practice ahead of the upcoming season. Under the new rules, which were recommended by the state’s Division of Marine Fisheries and approved by the Massachusetts Marine Fisheries Advisory on Thursday, land-based shark fishing is now banned on Cape Cod and most of the surrounding coastline. Chumming from shore during daylight hours is also banned statewide, as is fishing with drones and other mechanized devices.

Massachusetts’s stricter rules build on existing state regulations, and officials say they will allow for better enforcement of those regs, according to the Boston Herald. Keeping great white sharks has been illegal in the Bay State since 2005, and emergency regulations enacted in 2015 further prohibited anglers from even targeting the species. But these rules have been difficult to enforce, since anglers who hook great whites could say they were targeting another shark or fish species. And sometimes they were.

Read Next: How to Cook a Great White Shark (And Get in Serious Trouble For It)

By banning land-based shark fishing entirely along the sections of coastline where great white sharks are most abundant, officials have effectively closed that regulatory loophole. (Anglers can still surf fish for other species, as long as they’re not using metal or wire leaders.) The active ban stretches from the northernmost point of Plymouth Beach down to Cape Cod and around the Outer Cape, including all of Chatham Harbor and Monomoy Island. The coastal areas around South Cape and the Islands — which are known to hold fewer great whites but are home to other, legally catchable shark species — are excluded from the ban.

The approved regulations mirror some of the stricter rules that have been enacted in other coastal states, where shark fishing from shore is becoming a victim of its own popularity. The huge increase in surf anglers catching and posing with sharks “for the ‘Gram” has brought a lot of unwanted attention to what was once a secretive pastime.

Sign up for the Outdoor Life Newsletter

Get the hottest outdoor news and cutting-edge gear reviews.

“Land-based shark fishing has become one of the most overblown, ego-driven gong shows in fishing” OL fishing editor Joe Cermele wrote in 2022, after a popular beach town in New Jersey banned surf-fishing for sharks during the summertime. “All this commotion is destined to destroy the sport.”

It’s not just public sentiment, but public safety, that officials are concerned about, however. An incident that occurred on Cape Cod last fall is one example, and according to the Boston Herald, it is part of what precipitated the new rules that were approved by Massachusetts officials last week.

The Provincetown Independent reports that on Sept. 28 2024, there was a confrontation between surfers and a group of land-based anglers who were allegedly targeting a great white shark on LeCount Hollow Beach. The anglers had been chumming off the beach that morning, and they used a drone to send their hook, line, and bait (a dead bluefish) out over and past the surfers. The surfers called the police, claiming they saw a giant shark surface near them and that they’d gotten tangled in the anglers’ lines. No charges were filed, since the anglers had their licenses and said they were fishing for bass and stingrays, but the conflict shows how land-based shark fishing done wrong can be a threat, or a perceived threat, to public safety.

A fisherman fishes for sharks from the beach in Florida, which has stepped up shore-fishing regs but not banned shark fishing outright. Photo by Amanda Nalley / FWC

“There is a large contingent of anglers on social media that are looking for that viral video of them shark fishing, particularly for white sharks,” Massachusetts DMF policy analyst Jared Silva told the Boston Herald. 

Read Next: Great White Shark Tales from Cape Cod’s Charter Boat Captains

Silva added that this is especially problematic during the summer months, when the height of tourist season coincides with peak great white shark activity around Cape Cod. Great whites have been returning in record numbers there since around 2015, and they like to hunt along the shallow beaches where both seals and humans are found.       

“They can’t co-exist,” Silva said, referring to beachgoers and land-based shark anglers. “It’s a huge public safety issue.”

Read the full article here

Share This Article
Facebook X Copy Link Print
Previous Article Armed Homeowner Fends Off Five Intruders in Violent Los Banos Home Invasion Armed Homeowner Fends Off Five Intruders in Violent Los Banos Home Invasion
Next Article Game & Fish Unveils Essential Summer Camping Guide Game & Fish Unveils Essential Summer Camping Guide
Leave a Comment Leave a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Wake up with our popular morning roundup of the day's top blades, firearms and survavial news and updates.

USA Shooting Congratulates 2025 CRCA All-Americans; Katie Zaun Earns Athlete of the Year

May 25, 2025

The WHO Got Their New “Pandemic Treaty” Just In Time For The Great Pestilences That Are Rapidly Approaching

May 25, 2025

Griffin Lake Earns First Medal for Team USA at 2025 ISSF Suhl Junior World Cup

May 25, 2025

First Look: JK Armamant 20 Gauge Suppressor

May 25, 2025

CMP ANNOUNCES THREE LIMITED-ENTRY, IN-PERSON 1911 PISTOL SALES EVENTS

May 25, 2025

You Might Also Like

Inflatable vs. Closed-Cell Foam Sleeping Pads

Inflatable vs. Closed-Cell Foam Sleeping Pads

Hunting
The Best Slingshots of 2025, Tested and Reviewed

The Best Slingshots of 2025, Tested and Reviewed

Hunting
The Breaths of Birds: What Hunting Taught Me About Life and Death

The Breaths of Birds: What Hunting Taught Me About Life and Death

Hunting
The Invention of the Grand Slam Killed Sheep Hunting, According to Jack O’Connor

The Invention of the Grand Slam Killed Sheep Hunting, According to Jack O’Connor

Hunting

2025 © Blade Shopper. All rights reserved.

Helpful Links

  • News
  • Knives
  • Prepping & Survival
  • Tactical
  • Hunting
  • Videos

Resources

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Press Release
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Popuplar

USA Shooting Congratulates 2025 CRCA All-Americans; Katie Zaun Earns Athlete of the Year
Everything You Need to Know About Joining the Air Force
Bournemouth Air Festival: The UK’s Largest Air Festival
We provide daily defense news, benefits information, veteran employment resources, spouse and family resources.
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?