The Blacktip Challenge is an annual shark fishing event held every winter on the East Coast of Florida from Fernandina Beach to Key Biscayne. The Shark Fishing must be done from the beach with the main focus being the tagging of Black tip sharks (by people who have little to no tagging experience). Competitively motivated, the tournament gives a grand prize to the angler with the largest shark. February is the peak of the shark migration in South Florida coinciding with our peak visitor season. Hundreds of shark fisherman (mostly from out of state) spend 6 days casting (or kayaking) bloody bait into the surf at public beaches with the intent of luring in sharks. This is a time of year that already boasts a high presence of predators, along with tons of snowbirds. Putting bloody bait into the mix is not a smart idea. The fisherman use kayaks to deploy their baits and spend nights sleeping on the beach. Although the fisherman are "encouraged to only catch backtips" collateral catches are made such as Tiger Sharks, Sand sharks, and Bull sharks. These species also count towards the grand prize for biggest shark. Although "The Blacktip Challenge" claims they are tagging and releasing the sharks for the overall benefit of the species the sad fact is that most of these sharks are too tired after the long battle to survive. Some beaches on Singer Island had to close down on January 28th, 2015 because of an increase in shark sightings near to shore. Last year there was a story in Jupiter about Hammerhead sharks being buried in the sand to avoid exposing their deaths.  This is not a petition to ban shark fishing. Fishing is great! This is a petition to stop the Blacktip challenge. A tournament that puts way too many people with bloody bait onto our beaches during a time with way too many tourists and way too many sharks. This is bad for our sharks and an accident waiting to happen.