Many of us visit and enjoy the beaches along the Delaware coast. These include those within Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware Seashore State Park and Fenwick Island State Park. Unfortunately, the State of Delaware inequitably allocates limited beach space and privileges to certain individuals through its “surf fishing” permit program. Surf fishing in Delaware is primarily done by securing a sand spike in the sand, casting a long fishing rod, and then placing that fishing rod into the sand spike. I earlier put “surf fishing” in quotes because it has long been known that for many surf fishing is beside the point. Rather, it is simply a means toward privilege.
Indeed, if one’s objective is to catch fish, the best times to surf fish are from dawn till mid-morning and for a couple of hours before dusk. These are not exactly the peak times for when people use the beach. In normal times, it is difficult to conclude that surf fishing qualifies as a disability, as we have come to understand that term such that society should allow even those legitimately engaging in surf fishing to drive and park their vehicles on pristine, and otherwise protected, sand beaches while others use parking lots and, for example, carry in a surfboard or walk their children to the beach, all while lugging coolers, beach umbrellas, recreational equipment, and even strollers.
Don’t get me wrong, I support the right to surf fish and even the potential allocation of a portion of the beach to surf fishing, which would also have the benefit of providing some degree of separation for others from fishing lines, given their intrusion. But why does the right to surf fish include the right to drive and park on the beach rather than in a nearby parking lot?
Why should surf fishers not carry their equipment to the beach like other beach users? In the era of the COVID pandemic, the inequity of this privilege, which comes with greater physical distancing - 20 feet between vehicles in Delaware State Parks - is heightened. If Delaware beaches were more equitably shared among all users, other beachgoers could presumably spread out more.
An important additional question that needs an answer is whether there are also “social” privileges and “social” distancing associated with surf-fishing permits such that those who hold permits are skewed by race, ethnicity, income, gender, education, etc.? The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s response to a Freedom of Information Act request that I submitted stated that it had no documents responsive to my request, suggesting that DNREC does not collect this kind of vital information. It should.
On a recent personal day trip to Cape Henlopen State Park, I walked a portion of the beach allocated to surf fishing and noted that all surf fishers were white. In contrast, a visit to Cape Henlopen’s Fishing Pier that same day - which requires individuals to use parking lots - promoted integrated fishing.
Admittedly, these observations are merely suggestive, as they were not scientific samples, took place on a single day, and over a short period of time, and indeed, more robust validation is required.
As we think more broadly about Black Lives Matter, a health-oriented agency like DNREC should be particularly attuned to the issue of health equity. This is even more the case given the disproportionate negative health consequences of the pandemic on persons of color. Indeed, the COVID case-rate in Delaware among non-Hispanic Blacks and Hispanics/Latinos is more than two and five times as great as it is for non-Hispanic whites, respectively. The infection burden in the local county - Sussex - on non-Hispanic Blacks and on Hispanics/Latinos is even greater (more than 3x and 9x, respectively). In short, it is time for DNREC to both examine the potential disparate effects of its surf-fishing policy and to re-examine the surf-fishing privilege more generally.
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