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2012/06: Should sharks be culled off the southern Western Australian coast?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right:On March 31, 2011, ABC News carried a report of the death of a 33-year-old man following a shark attack while the man was diving near Busselton on the southern coast of Western Australia. If you cannot see this clip, it will be because video is blocked by your network. To view the clip, access from home or from a public library, or from another network which allows viewing of video clips.
What they said...
'To put things in perspective, on average there are two to three deaths per year from bee stings in Australia; yet we don't see people suggesting there should be a cull of bees'
Ryan Kempster, marine neuroecologist at the University of Western Australia
'How many more fatal shark attacks will it take for someone in authority to acknowledge the damage, socially and economically, of leaving that area unprotected?'
Liam Bartlett, a reporter with 60 Minutes on Channel 9
The issue at a glance
On March 31, 2012, a 33-year-old Western Australian man was fatally mauled by a shark about 1.6 kilometres off Stratham Beach, 230 kilometres south of Perth. The death brought to four the number of fatal shark attacks in Western Australian waters since September 2011.
Representatives of the local tourism industry and others have called for a cull.
The Western Australian premier, Colin Barnett, has said that a shoot to kill order was unlikely to be issued, because that would only happen if the shark was lurking around swimmers. Mr Barnett stated, 'Each situation is considered on its merit at the time.'
Mr Barnett has said culling sharks was not the answer but he believed restrictions on fishermen catching sharks should be reviewed.
There was substantial opposition from the conservation and scientific communities when a shark cull was mooted at the end of 2011.