- WASHINGTON, DC -- The next
time someone claims government programs don't really cost an arm and a
leg, tell him about the federal shark-stock rebuilding project -- which
has apparently contributed to a 325% increase in the number of vicious
shark attacks off the coast of Florida.
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- "As amazing as it sounds, politicians appear to
have created a federal program that increases the likelihood of shark attacks,"
said Steve Dasbach, the national director of the Libertarian Party. "In
an effort to protect one species, politicians have endangered another one
-- human beings.
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- "So, the next time you read about a surfer being
attacked or a small child being savaged by a shark, there's one thing you
should keep in mind: Politicians can do more than just take a bite out
of your paycheck."
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- Wait a second: Isn't it going a little too far to blame
politicians for shark attacks? Not according to Sean Paige, a fellow at
the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC.
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- In a story published in National Review Online, Paige
reported that the federal government began a shark-stock rebuilding project
in 1993, in an effort to protect what some said was an endangered species.
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- New federal regulations shortened the commercial shark-fishing
season and strictly limited the number of sharks that could be harvested.
As a result, as many as 236,900 fewer sharks were caught in 1999 than in
1993.
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- In Florida -- where the majority of shark attacks occur
-- state politicians followed suit and instituted a strict one-shark-per-person
fishing limit. They also banned two common fishing techniques, which created
a shark "sanctuary" near shore, where most attacks occur.
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- The consequences have been deadly. The number of shark
attacks off U.S. coasts jumped to 51 last year -- up from only 21 in 1993.
And in Florida, the number of shark-attack victims rose by an astounding
325%, to 34 last year.
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- In fact, so many swimmers have been terrorized over the
past few months that Time magazine has labeled this season, "Summer
of the Shark." In one especially horrific case, a bull shark tore
the arm off an 8-year-old Mississippi boy who was swimming near Pensacola,
Florida, on July 6.
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- While it is impossible to say with 100% certainty that
the shark-stock rebuilding program directly caused those attacks, there
must be some connection, said Dasbach.
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- "Do the math," he said. "On one hand,
hundreds of thousands of additional federally protected sharks are swimming
around off the coast of America. On the other hand, there has been a sharp
rise in the number of shark attacks.
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- "You don't have to be a marine biologist to figure
out that more sharks are going to lead to more shark attacks. It's obvious
-- unless you're a politician."
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- That's why the shark-stock rebuilding program appears
to be a classic case of the Law of Unintended Consequences, said Dasbach.
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- "It happens all the time," he said. "Politicians
pass a law to 'solve' one problem, and unwittingly cause another problem
-- frequently worse than the original one.
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- "For example, welfare programs intended to alleviate
poverty end up getting poor people addicted to government handouts; minimum
wage laws designed to help the poor find good-paying jobs end up causing
unemployment; and federal mandates forcing employers to provide medical
care end up increasing health-care costs.
-
- "So why should we be surprised that a program designed
to protect sharks also has an unintended consequence -- jeopardizing the
lives of swimmers? One way or another, problems always seem to get worse
when politicians sink their teeth into them."
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