Great white shark hunt
HUNTING for great white sharks could start next year following a study to determine how many of the killer fish lurk in Australian waters.
But surfers and swimmers are demanding a cull sooner than that off the NSW coast to prevent further attacks this spring and summer, amid claims that shark numbers are rocketing.
“The cold, hard reality is that their numbers are increasing – there’s no way anyone can dispute that,” Lennox-Ballina Boardriders Club president Don Munro said. “Due to the increasing numbers a cull should be a foregone conclusion.”
Ballina councillor Phil Meehan added: “Targeted fishing may well be the answer to bring shark numbers back to a safe level.”
The federal government will consider removing the existing “vulnerable and threatened” protection status for great whites following a CSIRO study into their numbers which is due to report back this year. The Liberal Party’s federal council passed a motion two weeks ago supporting removal of protections for great whites if the CSIRO finds they are no longer threatened.
NSW Primary Industries Minister Niall Blair has not ruled out support for a great white cull, but a spokesman for Mr Blair said: “We await the final report into CSIRO’s study of white shark numbers before making any comment.”
The CSIRO is using a remarkable range of methods to try and count the sharks, which are divided into two distinct populations on the east and west seaboards.
Much of the work has been based around monitoring juvenile populations in places like Port Stephens, with sharks fitted with electronic tracking devices to monitor their movements.
Aerial surveys are also being utilised, along with a trial of baited, underwater video cameras that allow scientists to count juvenile sharks. To count adult numbers, the CSIRO is taking tissue samples, allowing them to trace parentage, among other measures.
“Any change to the listing of great white sharks would need to be based on scientific evidence,” Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg, who has demanded the population study be made a priority, said.
If numbers are found to have grown significantly it may open the door to targeted hunting to reduce populations, though this is likely to be met with vocal opposition from some political groups.
It could involve small scale commercial fishing or an orchestrated cull. The state government currently catches sharks on baited drumlines but releases those that survive.