Shark Tournament speared



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March 14, 2007
Jim Wagner
Florida Freedom News
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The controversial Destin Deep Water Shark Tournament appears to have been killed.
During a two-hour meeting Tuesday evening, the board of the Destin History and Fishing Museum voted to withdraw its sponsorship of the event.
The tournament, revived after an 11-year absence, was held in September of last year and attracted crowds of hundreds each day during its four-day run.
More than 300 sharks were caught and released by anglers participating in the event.
Eleven sharks were weighed-in, the biggest being a tiger shark weighing more than 600 pounds.
The tournament also drew criticism from the Humane Society of the United States and South Walton businessman and conservationist M.C. Davis, who believed the tournament was inhumane and had no place in Destin.
During the tournament, a handful of Humane Society protesters carried signs along U.S. 98 and airplanes pulled banners along Destin’s beaches calling for an end to all shark tournaments.
Board members, Tuesday night, debated the museum’s role in sponsoring the event and then voted unanimously to discontinue their sponsorship.