Let’s be honest: Wouldn’t the sight of a big shark in the surf, with its dorsal fin cutting through the surface, scare you out of the sea, your mind and your bikini?

A longtime coastal Floridian might shrug it off and be back in the swim next weekend, but suppose you’re a tourist. Fat chance you’ll ever take another step east of Route A1A. Or maybe even south of the Georgia-Florida boundary.

Now suppose you’re a fisherman who lured that shark near shore by tossing scoops of bloody ground bait in the water, got it to take your hook and reeled it in. You sit on it as if it were a pony, pulling up on its nose to show off its teeth.

That’s legal now — and mean — but don’t be surprised if a crowd forms around you, shouting threats and curses.

Next, let’s say you’re a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation (FWC) Commissioner. Rights are in conflict here. You and your outfit are the ones who have to settle that with some new regulations — with the help of public input, of course.

Here are the ideas FWC staff are working on to better control shark fishing from shore:

• Requiring a permit, probably at no cost.
• Requiring lessons in shark handling, such as no dragging them up the beach, no sitting on them for photos — and species identification because there are 26 kinds you can’t keep at all and others with minimum size rules.
• Restricting or forbidding chumming from shore.
• Separating beach fishing for sharks from swimming and sun-bathing by designating separate spaces or confining shark fishing to after dark.
• Limitations for shore-based tournaments
• Requiring the use of special release gear and of circle hooks, which make it easier and safer to release undersized sharks and protected species without damage.

Whatever category of the public you are in, if you don’t tell the FWC what you think should and shouldn’t be done, it will happen without your input.

Better to give the FWC staff some good, thoughtful ideas. That’s always best in person. They plan three public workshops this month in the southeast region, all starting at 6 p.m.: Tuesday Aug. 28 in West Palm Beach at the Palm Beach County department of Planning, Zoning & Building, Vista Center, 2300 N. Jog Road.

Wednesday Aug. 29 in Miami at Miami City Hall’s City Commission chambers, 3500 Pan American Drive.

Thursday Aug. 30 in the Keys, Key Colony Beach City Hall, 600 W. Ocean Drive.

If you can’t attend any of those sessions, FWC will receive your comments online at MyFWC.com/ SaltwaterComments.

Once everything’s been sifted, a draft rule will be presented to the Commission. The target date is Dec. 12, when the Commission meets for two days at St. Augustine.

Current shark regulations — along with links to a developing power-point presentation, the statewide workshop schedule and other shark info — can be found here: http://myfwc.com/fishing/saltwater/recreational/sharks.