Too dangerous to swim
Fishing pair’s shark warning
HINCHINBROOK commercial fishers Walter and Lisa Putzka say they would “not even consider” spearfishing as a sport because of the increase in shark numbers.
The pair’s comments follow a bull shark’s grisly attack on Mission Beach spearfisher Rick Bettua on the Great Barrier Reef on Sunday morning.
Mr Bettua was rescued by friend Peter Kocica and, despite having no pulse when brought ashore at Dungeness, was yesterday miraculously listed as in a stable condition.
Mrs Putzka said if you had to leave the boat for any reason, “you’re doing it with someone looking out for you and you’re doing it as quick as possible”.
“In 30 years, it’s gone from us wallowing around in the water to us not wanting to get in the water at all,” Mrs Putzka said. “I wouldn’t want to be floating around out there without a boat under me.”
Mr and Mrs Putzka said that while sharks did not have a substantial effect on their catch, numbers had grown in recent years.
“They’ve always been there but we’ve noticed there’s a lot more of them now,” Mr Putzka said.
“At night there will be 20 or 30 sharks behind the boat.
“Sometimes you can’t see the bottom because of the amount of sharks around the boat.”
The Putzkas have encountered several different species
of sharks while out on the reef fishing for spanish mackerel, including whalers, southern whalers, sand and reef sharks.
“We used to take fins off sharks as a side business and when the government said no more shark finning because sharks were protected, there was a sudden explosion in numbers,” he said.
“It’s not just in our area here
where there are a lot of sharks.
“You can go all the way down to the NSW border, there’s sharks.
“They’ve got the same problem.
“I reckon the last six or seven years it’s been really bad, mostly for the recreational fishers in losing fish.”
The Putzkas use electric reels that enable them to reel
in their fish quickly to avoid sharks taking the bulk of their catch, unlike the traditional rod and reel used by recreational fishers.
Mr Putzka said he had sent photos via a friend’s correspondence to the Fisheries Minister showing shark teeth embedded in their boat hull and scratches on the propeller from sharks biting it.