By DON DUBUC

Lately there’s been a lot of news coverage about sharks in Lake Pontchartrain. Even locals are shocked to learn that not only are sharks common in the lake, there’s evidence that aggressive bull sharks, the species responsible for deadly attacks off the coasts of Alabama and Florida in recent years, are common visitors to the lake.

Fishermen at a popular trout hole, the Seabrook Bridge on the south shore, have been reporting an unusually high number of sharks leaving them with speckled trout cut in half. Accounts describe the sharks, some up to six feet in length, has having the characteristics of bull sharks.

The fact that these sharks are harassment to fishermen is one thing. But despite being off limits to swimmers, families are bathing just 100 yards away from where the big sharks have been sighted. It’s amazing not one single shark attack in Lake Pontchartrain has ever been documented.

So does swimming and fishing in Lake Pontchartrain represent a truly dangerous situation? What are the chances of being attacked while surf fishing or swimming? Pretty remote, at least for right now. Most of our shark encounters involve sharks tugging on stringers attached to the belts of wade fishermen. But then again we don’t nearly have beaches crowed with swimmers like Florida. We may soon find that out if we have a similar problem whenever the beachfronts are reopened.

And that isn’t far off since it now has a clean bill of environmental health. Shark sightings in Louisiana seem to be higher on the eastward end. Shark catches seem to decline the closer one goes towards Texas. But sharks in Pontchartrain are nothing new. I can remember fishing for sharks in the lake 30 years ago.

“Our species sample nets catch lots of bull sharks in Lake Borgne and Lake Pontchartrain. Two years ago in one set we had 17 sharks in the net,” said LDWF biologist Mark Lawson. “Recently we had a Lake Pontchartrain fishermen call to tell us that just as he was pulling up a 22-inch speckled trout to the surface, a shark severed it behind the gills with one pass. That was no little sand shark.”

“I’ve fished sharks commercially for years and I can tell you there are plenty of bull and other sharks in both Lake Borgne and Pontchartrain. Most of them are on the smaller side, 3 1/2 to 5 feet and I’ve found them from the Chandeleur Islands all the way to Bayou Bienvenu,” said Pete Gerica. “With the short seasons and low prices, it’s not worth the effort to fish them anymore.”

The fact that less commercial fishermen are targeting sharks is verified by LDWF Saltwater Finfish biologist Randy Pausina. “We’ve seen a steady decline in shark permit holders over several years.”

For the last three years fishermen have had a nightmare trying to understand the different shark regulations in state and federal waters.

“We’ve adopted the same shark regulations in state waters (three miles offshore) as those in federal waters, mostly to ease of enforcement,” Pausina said.

But Louisiana still has a more stringent rule than the feds: a complete moratorium on all sharks in state waters between April and June.

“Our data showed certain species of sharks needed protection during breeding in shore areas, so the closure was put in effect. Unless we get an outcry from the public, it’s not likely we’ll revisit the issue,” Pausina said.

Let’s hope that what is happening in the eastern Gulf is the result of factors other than an underestimated shark population.

DON DUBUC is the outdoors reporter for L’Observateur.