FOLLY BEACH, S.C. (WCSC) — Folly Beach leaders are moving toward a ban on drone fishing, with the city council taking up the issue at a Tuesday meeting.
The proposed rule would prohibit the use of drones and other mechanical devices to deliver bait and fishing lines on the city’s beaches and piers. The technique has grown in use as the technology has become cheaper and more accessible, allowing fishermen to carry bait hundreds of yards offshore.
Mayor Chris Bizzell said the interactions between fishermen, swimmers and surfers have become harder to ignore as summer crowds grow and drone fishing activity increases.
“It’s just becoming more prevalent on the beach,” Bizzell said. “You see the drone fishing activities starting to ramp up as the technology becomes more accessible. There’s so many interactions between the fishermen, the swimmers, the surfers, we just need to make sure we keep everybody safe.”
Bizzell said the concern extends beyond beach safety. Folly Beach is home to endangered birds and sea turtles, and leaders say tangled monofilament fishing line poses a threat to those animals.
“We’ve got people surfing, wind surfing, that type of thing, swimming,” Bizzell said. “It becomes more of a chance for those two to interact and have issues. The other side of it is the environmental side. Folly’s home to endangered species of birds, sea turtles. We don’t want any of this monofilament entangling animals and causing issues on that side as well.”
The City Council meets Tuesday at 7:00 p.m. at the Council Chambers. The session is the first reading of the proposed ordinance, meaning no final vote will be taken.
Leaders said the language in the proposed rule is intentionally broad, so it could apply to future fishing technology beyond drones.
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