Really Western Australia!? Again?

The department of fisheries for western Australia made the following announcement today.

"Following a series of tagged shark detections of a white shark at the Warnbro receiver a decision has been made to deploy capture gear to take a white shark that has been assessed as posing a serious threat to public safety."
 

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So what has this shark done to pose this serious threat to public safety? Did it attack a surfer? Did it try to bite a swimmer?...... actually no. According to their press release, "The Department of Fisheries sent vessels to investigate and it became apparent the same shark has been within one kilometre of the shore over consecutive days." .... ah, .... well,..... hmm,..... I really don't know what to say. A shark is swimming in the water within a kilometer (.62 miles) over consecutive days! I guess that is reason enough to go out, capture and kill a protected species. I mean really, it is our Ocean and not the sharks! (sharkasm intended, just to make sure)

After stating that “The initial pattern of detections of this tagged shark combined with the mitigation strategies did not warrant further action".  They went on to say. "However there has been an increase in the number of day-time detections on consecutive during the lead up to Christmas, and school holidays combined with warm and sunny weather, people are more likely to be in the water using the beaches, fishing and diving.” ... So it's not really the shark that is the problem, it's the people who want to go where they know a shark is swimming. I mean really, it would just be ridiculous to think that the strategies in already place right now “Measures required to negate serious threat to the public have been put in place, including beach closures, notifications to the community, and alerts / detections posted on Twitter and the department’s SharkSmart website, however, given the likely increase in water users and increased detections of this shark, more direct action has now been taken to address public safety concerns.” would prevent a possible attack. No, of course not. They need to go out and kill this protected shark. Anything else would just not be right!
 
The fisheries department justifies their action this way “The decision to remove the shark has been made under the State Government’s guidelines for the take of a shark posing a serious threat to public safety,”.... pssst, don't tell anyone, but how is a shark in the water a serious threat to a person on land? If the required action includes closing the beach and alerting the community, how exactly does this shark pose a serious threat?

I guess we now know, what the government had in mind, when they stopped their challenge to the decision to remove the drumlines. Just make up a hypothetical threat and go out to kill a protected species..... Well done!

Anyway, you can read their entire press release here.

Remember that Western Australia does this to supposedly protect the public and help tourism. We can all choose to not visit Western Australia and show them that way, what we think of their actions.

Cheers,
Martin Graf
CEO Shark Diver
 


About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdiver.com.

No more drumlines, let the shark killing begin?

Shark Year Magazine just published this:


Western  Australian Government to take action to protect human life when necessary due to an imminent shark threat
 
The State Government has reached an agreement with the Commonwealth Government that will ensure in the event of a shark attack or threat; immediate action can be taken by the Western Australian Government to implement the imminent threat policy.
  Premier Colin Barnett said this would enable the State Government to respond quickly in the event of a shark posing a threat, or after an attack.
  “It is important that that we can take action to protect human life when necessary due to an imminent threat, without delay,” he said.
  “Protocols are being developed to this effect, consistent with Federal environmental law so no ongoing further approvals would be required from the Commonwealth,” Mr Barnett said.
  “The Federal and State governments will work together so that the State Government can take appropriate action to protect public safety when there is an imminent threat from a shark, as was the case in the recent attack in Esperance.”
  “This approach strikes the necessary balance between protecting public safety and protecting our environment,” he said.
  The Premier confirmed the State Government had withdrawn its application for Commonwealth approval of the drum line shark hazard mitigation program.
  In light of the recommendations from the Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority, he said that the application to the Commonwealth had been withdrawn.
  “We have withdrawn the application after reaching agreement with the Commonwealth which enables us to take immediate action when there is an imminent threat,” Mr Barnett said.
  “This will mean we will not need to wait for approvals from Canberra in the event of an imminent threat.”
Source: Government of Western Australia

I wonder, what this really means. What constitutes an imminent threat? I'm not sure that Barnett, who doesn't seem to know a whole lot about sharks, is a good person to answer that question.Shark diving, swimming with sharks, cage diving, great white sharks,
After diving with great white sharks for 14 years, I've come to the conclusion, that these sharks are "predictably unpredictable" and I wouldn't know, how to reduce the already miniscule risk of a shark attack, other than avoiding certain spots or spots at certain times. In my opinion, if they are concerned about swimmers safety, they should spend the money they use for shark mitigation on additional life guards or better equipment for them. That might actually save some swimmers from drowning, a far greater risk than getting bit by a shark.

We shall see, how this turns out. 
We cage dive with great white sharks, swim with sharks at Isla Guadalupe Island.
Martin Graf
CEO Shark Diver

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdiver.com.

Good news on WA shark cull?

Western Australia has decided to open the shark cull policy to a Public Environmental Review. That is great news! There is a four week period for us to send in our submissions. They have not published an address for those comments to be sent to, which gives us time, to think about how to respond.
Swimming with sharks, cage diving, shark diving, are things Shark Diver is known for.
Once again, Dashark"s has put together some excellent information for you, in his blog today.

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There are a lot of links with information, that help with writing an effective letter to the Environmental Protection Authority.
Best company to dive with sharks
You can read his blog here.

Along with all the links, Dashark also gives some excellent advice, and I quote:

"But please, be careful with those submissions!

There will be a formal process and those dudes are not those maligned politicians but people that generally know what they are talking about and that are able to distinguish good arguments from sharkitarian BS. So once again, please spare yourselves the insults, the platitudes and the pathos and make sure that what you submit is grounded in fact, for which you will need to inform yourselves.

 
We at Shark Diver wholeheartedly agree with Dashark on this point. Remember, we are trying to convince someone who doesn't necessarily see things our way. Give them reasons to decide in our favor and not reasons to think we are a bunch of lunatics.

As soon as I hear of an address to send your thought to, I will let you know. In the meantime, take a look at all the information and work on that killer response to the EPA.

Cheers,

Martin Graf

CEO

Shark Diver 

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdiver.com

Is Australia killing sharks? Again?

This is getting ridiculous. According to a couple of articles in the Australian, the Western Australian government has again decided to kill great white sharks. According to one article "Large sharks that swim into designated 'kill zones' near popular swimming and surfing beaches in Western Australia will be hunted by professional fishermen." The article quotes the fisheries minister Buswell as saying "This does not represent a culling of sharks. It is not a fear-driven hunt, it is a targeted, localised shark mitigation strategy,'' 

Wait a minute, did Mr Buswell say this is not a culling?  They are baiting hooks to catch and kill sharks, but it's not a cull. Only a politician can say something like that and actually think it makes sense.

A second article in the australian also states that "Treasurer Troy Buswell, who loses the fisheries portfolio on Wednesday, admitted it was likely other marine animals would be caught with the baited hooks, and it was possible tagged sharks used for research could also be caught by the new policy.

But the government insisted public safety came first."

There are a couple of things that don't make sense. Let's look at this a little closer.

1. The director of the Conservation Council of Western Australia correctly states that "This new cull policy amounts to indiscriminate fishing, and will not only cull potentially risky sharks, but we can expect to see dolphins, turtles, seals, nurse sharks and a range of other marine life killed off our beaches." So, since the baited hooks will not only target large sharks that are in the area, but also kill other marine life, the hooks will actually lure sharks into the area, because they will be attracted by the animals caught by the hooks. So how exactly is that going to make the beaches safer?

2. Targeting large sharks doesn't make a lot of sense, since it is actually the younger sharks that tend to be more inquisitive and less cautious than the adult ones.

Once again, politicians cater to the uneducated public and want to be seen as doing something, even if what they are doing isn't going to help and quite possibly could make the situation worse.

Cheers,
Martin Graf
CEO
Shark Diver

About Shark Diver. As a global leader in commercial shark diving and conservation initiatives Shark Diver has spent the past decade engaged for sharks around the world. Our blog highlights all aspects of both of these dynamic and shifting worlds. You can reach us directly at staff@sharkdiver.com.