Row rages as shark hooked on drum line
A TIGER shark almost 4m long was caught on a drum line off The Strand yesterday.
The catch came after the Federal Court last month upheld a decision made by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal that drum lines used in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park be removed.
Fisheries Minister Mark Furner said the State Government’s shark control program needed to be allowed back in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
“But because the Federal Government is refusing to act, the people of Townsville are not safe on other beaches around Townsville,” he said.
“The Federal Government and their state LNP counterparts want to embrace the catch-and-release method for dealing with dangerous sharks.
“Under the LNP’S plan we’d be towing sharks from one end of The Strand to the other and dumping it a kilometre away – it’s ridiculous and just won’t work.”
Mr Furner tweeted a photo of the tiger shark and said the Government’s shark control program worked, and the Federal Government needed to change the law to allow the drum lines back in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Herbert MP Phil Thompson said the Administrative Appeals Tribunal decision did not demand a removal of drum lines.
“Only that they be checked more frequently, non-target species be released, and target species be tagged and relocated,” Mr Thompson said.
“The orders allow drum lines to remain in the water catching sharks during this time – those found alive can be removed and relocated offshore – while other modern technology is trialled and implemented progressively.”