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2013/22: Should Australian states use nets, drum-lines and other shark culling measures?
Introduction to the media issue
Video clip at right:On November 26, 2013, Channel 9 Perth ran a report on Premier Colin Barnett’s readiness to ‘destroy’ sharks near popular beaches and surf breaks. The report includes the views of surfers and fishermen.
What they said...
'We will always put the lives and safety of beachgoers ahead of the shark. This is, after all, a fish - let's keep it in perspective'
Western Australian premier, Colin Barnett
'An estimated 100 million sharks are killed every year around the world, a number that far exceeds what many populations need to recover'
Dan Stone, National Geographic, March 1, 2013
The issue at a glance
On December 27, 2013, Colin Barnett, the premier if Western Australia, announced a series of measures intended to reduce the likelihood of beachgoers in his state being attacked by sharks.
Included among these measures are the establishment of eight Marine Monitored Areas (MMAs) in eight popular Western Australian beach locations and the placing of baited drum-lines at each of these spots. The drum-lines will be cleared on a regular basis.
The MMAs will be patrolled by contracted commercial fishing vessels employed to kill any shark they detect larger than three metres. These fishing vessels will bolster the coverage already provided by Department of Fisheries and Western Australian Water Police vessels.
The measures have been introduced in response to an apparent increase in the number of fatal shark attacks in West Australian waters.
The Western Australian premier stated, in justification of the new measures, 'We have had 20 fatal shark attacks in WA in the past 100 years - seven of them in the past three years.'
However, the new Western Australian shark control procedures have caused concern among conservationists and others who have condemned them as unlikely to be effective in terms of protecting human life, while placing endangered species under increased pressure. The same claims have been made about the netting and drum-lining practices employed in New South Wales and Queensland. In October there was a call for the removal of nets from eastern beaches in response to the large numbers of whales being caught in the nets.