McCombs: Response to Beaufort County shark catch story shows how times have changed
The movie "Jaws" has become a classic. The Discovery Channel dedicates a week of programming every summer to its popular "Shark Week."
Katherine, one of two prominent tagged Great White sharks that frequently visit the waters off the Lowcountry, has more than 35,000 followers on Twitter.
On numerous occasions, hundreds of adults and children have waded into the water at The Sands beach in Port Royal on a Saturday morning to find what treasures the Shark Tooth Fairy has deposited there.
Face it. We're in love with sharks. And two Hilton Head Island men found out the hard way last week.
How Lowcountry readers reacted to what Charles Hiers and his 19-year-old son, Ryan, did shows how our attitudes have changed about what we do with sharks we catch.
And rightly so.
The Hierses caught a 350- to 400-pound, 9-foot tiger shark offshore last Sunday and brought it in.
Charles Hiers said people on the dock at Hilton Head Boathouse took pictures with the shark. Astonished kids got to touch it.
But the article and photo in The Island Packet resulted in a lot of feedback, almost exclusively negative, about the decision to keep the shark instead of releasing him.
"We meant no harm," Charles Hiers said. "People thought we just dumped it. We didn't. We kept the meat. If you were in a shark tournament you'd bring in the big catch, so I don't understand the hate."
Assuming the Hierses had all the proper permits, they were within the law to keep the shark.
But should they have?
It doesn't mean they deserve the beating they're taking in the court of public opinion. Criticism should be constructive, not vengeful.
But it's not hard to see the answer is no: They should have released the fish.
Long feared and misunderstood, sharks have become celebrated sometime over the past three decades. Though we know they can be dangerous, we don't simply "hunt" them anymore.
Maybe it was the movies or cable TV shows or better science and education, but we understand that the health of top predators gives us a good indication of how healthy our ecosystem is.
And much like cobia -- already a hot-button issue around Port Royal Sound -- and other species that humans have overfished, it has become clear we have to make better decisions about how we preserve the experience and benefits of fishing for future generations.
"Catch and release," said Island Packet outdoors columnist Collins Doughtie. "It's got to be the way to go because we've got so many anglers out there, and we've got to protect our resources."
Doughtie said he has caught fish big enough to set state records on numerous occasions, only to throw the fish back and toss away any chance of putting his name in the record books.
For him, though, it's no big sacrifice.
"It's just not worth killing the fish," Doughtie said. "A picture will do the trick."
Charles Hiers said despite the negative reaction, the episode was an "amazing experience and a lesson from start to finish."
But would he do anything differently the next time? What did he take from the "lesson"?
"Next time," Charles Hiers said, "we'll have the GoPro, and we'll release it if we're fortunate enough to catch one again."
Charles Hiers knows next time, "catch and release" is the way to go.
Follow sports editor Mike McCombs at www.twitter.com/IPBGsports.
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This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 8:16 PM with the headline "McCombs: Response to Beaufort County shark catch story shows how times have changed ."