Florida Safe Seas Act Bans Shark Feeding in Federal Waters to Boost Public Safety

The “Florida Safe Seas Act of 2025” is making a small but significant change to federal fisheries law, specifically targeting how people interact with sharks off the Florida coast. This bill amends the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act to explicitly prohibit the feeding of sharks within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) bordering Florida (SEC. 2).

Don't Feed the Wildlife: Now a Federal Rule

If you’re wondering what the EEZ is, think of it as the federal ocean territory that generally extends from about 9 to 200 nautical miles offshore. This rule means that shark feeding—whether for tourism, recreation, or any other reason—is now off-limits in a massive swath of ocean surrounding the state. This is a direct expansion of a rule already in place for Hawaii, bringing Florida into alignment with other major coastal areas looking to regulate human-shark interactions.

Why This Matters for Your Beach Trip

For the average person who enjoys Florida’s beaches or goes fishing, this is fundamentally a public safety measure. When sharks are regularly fed by people, they start to associate humans and boats with an easy meal. This habituation can make them bolder and increase the risk of negative encounters, even if those encounters are miles offshore. By stopping this practice, the bill aims to keep sharks behaving like wild animals, which generally means they keep their distance from people. This is great news for swimmers, divers, and boaters who use these waters, making the environment slightly more predictable and safer.

Who Needs to Pay Attention

While the general public benefits from the safety boost, this change directly impacts any commercial or recreational operators currently running shark feeding tours or activities in the federal waters off Florida. Those businesses will have to immediately cease those operations or move them outside the EEZ, which is a significant operational shift. Researchers who rely on feeding for study will also need to review their permits, as this blanket prohibition may require specific federal exemptions to continue their work. The clarity of the bill’s language (SEC. 2) keeps the vagueness level low, meaning there isn't much room for interpretation on what is now banned in these federal zones.