“Completely Lawless”: Shark Tours Under Fire After Attacks

“It’s the wild, wild west out there,” said fisherman Eddie Ebusui. “This industry needs to be regulated. There are at least 20 to 25 boats out there. And they [the sharks] are at the surface, following the boats.”

One of the main issues is feeding the sharks, or chumming, to attract them for clients.

“It’s against the law,” said Dr. Michael Domeier, Director of the Marine Conservation Science Institute. “Absolutely against the law. And the reason why that bothers me is because, if the state had intended to allow these boats to feed the sharks, they would’ve put a lot more regulations in place to keep people safe.”

Regarding the attack on the shark tour employee in January, Dr. Domeier spoke with the victim.

“I started getting messages from a lot of past and current employees,” he said about Gavin Newland, the one who was attacked out of Haleiwa. “I asked him a couple questions. I asked him first of all, ‘did you have any training for this job?’ He said, ‘none. No training at all.’ I asked him if there was any chumming. He said, ‘every day.’ I said, ‘was there a first aid kit on the boat.’ He said, ‘no.’ The legislation needs to fix these things. If we have this industry, we need to keep people safe.”

Hawaii state and local government prohibit chumming. However, there are no laws against getting up close and personal with sharks.