Shark savers slam state for ‘dragging heels’ on drumline trial
CONSERVATIONISTS who won a battle to end lethal shark control measures in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park say the state has stalled on a court-ordered SMART drumlines trial.
Humane Society International, whose legal action ended the state government’s lethal shark control measures in the marine park, has accused the state of “dragging its heels” on the trial almost two years after it was ordered and a year after it announced it would go ahead.
The state opposition has also blasted the delay, saying it did not “make sense for the environment or human safety” and that federal funding had already been provided.
SMART drumlines trigger an alert when a shark is caught so it can be tagged and released, and have been used in NSW for the past five years in a trial.
The Palaszczuk government conceded defeat and announced a trial 12 months ago after losing a court appeal and repeatedly arguing SMART drumlines would not work.
It returned drumlines to the marine park in February 2020, shifting to a catch-and-release program and announcing a SMART drumlines trial in line with a tribunal order.
The Administrative Appeals Tribunal ordered an end to Queensland’s catch-and-kill program in April 2019, ruling sharks must instead be released – ideally within 24 hours – and smart drumlines trialled and introduced “as soon as reasonably possible” after accepting there was no basis to the state’s claims that killing sharks caught on drumlines prevented shark attacks.
Fisheries Minister Mark Furner said a Sharksmart drone trial was under way in the state’s southeast and planning had begun for a SMART drumline trial in central Queensland.
He said tiger, bull and white sharks were tagged and relocated where it was possible and safe for workers.
THE Bureau of Meteorology says the Townsville radar is operating again after almost a week of outage but has downplayed its importance.
In a statement on Friday, the federal government agency said the Townsville community continued to receive radar coverage from its Cairns and Bowen radars, and that radars were not used to forecast the formation, strength or movement clones.
“The outage in Townsville had no impact whatsoever on the accuracy or frequency of the bureau’s cyclone forecast or warnings,” the statement said.
Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill blew up over the radar failure, asking how it could happen in the middle of cyclone season and when Cycof tropical cylone Niran coast.
The failure also angered Dawson MP George Christensen, who wrote to the BOM chief executive and to Environment Minister Sussan Ley about the issue, saying it was “simply not good enough”.
Cyclone Niran, downgraded to a severe category 4 system, also caused damage in New Caledonia. threatened the
LITTLE nippers will brave the Gold Coast surf to compete in a national competition testing their fitness and surf skills this weekend.
Macy Stone, 11, and Clancy Stone, 13, will travel to North Kirra on Wednesday to slip on the wetsuits for the Surf Life Saving Queensland Youth State Championships.
Running from March 12 to 14, the championships will feature five age groups that will compete in various events, including 1km and 2km beach runs, beach flags and sprint, surf race and surfboard events.
Sixty-two nippers from the North Barrier Branch team, spanning from Sarina to Forrest
Beach, will compete with hundreds of other nippers from around the state, including 26 from Picnic Bay and Arcadia clubs.
Clancy has been learning to be a lifesaver since he was six years old and said competing in the championship was a highlight of 2021.
“I love having fun training with all my friends during the year,” he said.
The championships were cancelled last year due to COVID-19 lockdowns.
North Barrier Branch team manager Matt Stone said the children had been preparing for the past two years.
“The kids are all fit and they are going to give it their best shot,” he said.