Attacks fuel calls for shark slaughter
A shark attack on two British tourists has prompted calls for a mass slaughter of the predators, which many fear are proliferating off Australia’s most popular beaches.
The attack on Alistair Raddon and Danny Maggs during a snorkelling trip off Queensland’s Whitsunday Islands has renewed demands for stronger shark protection measures.
Raddon had his right foot amputated, while Maggs suffered severe bites to his right calf. Both remain in hospital.
MP Bob Katter, whose Kennedy constituency covers a vast area of northern Queensland, said action needed to be taken.
‘‘We have a right to live, we have a right to defend ourselves and, more importantly, our children, our loved ones from some of the most terrible deaths that are perpetrated on human beings – being ripped to pieces by a shark or a crocodile,’’ he said.
The two Britons are believed to have been attacked by a bronze whaler at the northern end of Hook Passage, an area not included in Queensland’s shark control programme.
The incident has led to demands for Australia to rethink how it stops humans coming into contact with sharks.
Campaigners say the problem is that different states take different approaches. Along much of Queensland’s coast, there are controversial baited drum lines which often kill sharks, while in New South Wales and Western Australia, authorities use drones and ‘‘smart’’ lines to stop sharks without harming them.
Katter and Jason Costigan, the MP for the Whitsunday Islands, want drum lines and shark nets installed around the area where Raddon and Maggs were bitten. Unlike much of the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsundays have never had permanent shark control measures.
Claims that shark numbers are increasing are disputed, and the number of attacks remains low. There have been 13 attacks in Australia this year, six of them in Queensland. Last year there were 27 attacks.
Since the Queensland shark control programme began in 1962, more than 50,000 sharks have been killed at Queensland beaches.
A Queensland court has now sided with the sharks, ordering an end to their slaughter in the state. More than 170 drum lines must be removed from around the Great Barrier Reef by September next year.
The ruling has infuriated campaigners.
‘‘The problem is no-one has told sharks not to kill human beings,’’ Katter said. ‘‘When you can assure me that sharks have been told and understand that they’re not to kill humans, then I will agree that we humans [should] not kill sharks.’’