Legislative efforts to preserve a certain type of bait fish are apparently working — and it may be part of the reason why so many sharks have attacked beachgoers off the coast of Long Island, New York.
A 2019 law passed by New York’s legislature outlawed the use of drawstring-like nets to fish for Atlantic menhaden, which overfishing had significantly depleted in 2011. The fish are a common food source for whales, dolphins, seals and sharks, according to the New York Post.
Frank Quevedo, executive director of the South Fork Natural History Museum Shark Research and Education Program, told the Post that as the fish’s booming population drifts closer to shore, and sharks follow them there to feast, “if people are in the middle of that frenzy … they’re gonna get bitten and that’s what happens.