World's top marine biologists, scientists call for end to Western Australia's controversial shark cull

Updated

Hundreds of the world's top marine scientists and researchers are calling on the West Australian Government to scrap its controversial shark catch and kill policy.

The state's Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) is assessing a proposed three-year extension of the program, but there are serious questions about the science that has gone into it.

The ABC has obtained a copy of their submission, which argues that there is no evidence it is making beachgoers safer.

The EPA is accepting submissions until Monday for its assessment.

Federal approval for the policy has expired, so the program will also have to face a full environmental assessment under Commonwealth law.

More than 250 scientists and researchers have signed the submission to the EPA, including US marine biologist Dr Elliott Norse.

Dr Norse worked for several presidents and was a key force behind the scenes in president Barack Obama's push to preserve vast parts of the Pacific Ocean.

"I think killing sharks is not a good idea," he said.

"I think killing apex predatory sharks like tiger sharks is a terrible idea.

"Apex predators are really important in ecosystems and when we kill them what we often find is really bad things happen."

Catching sharks has no impact on attacks: experts

During the State Government's 13-week trial which was finished earlier this year, 172 sharks were caught, of which 163 were tiger sharks.

Not one was a Great White, the species thought to be responsible for most attacks on humans.

Fifty tiger sharks larger than 3 metres were killed, with the biggest measuring 4.5 metres.

The State Government introduced the policy of setting baited drum lines off five Perth beaches and two in the south-west following an increase in fatal shark attacks in the past 10 years.

In the submission co-ordinating scientist Professor Jessica Meeuwig said Hawaii was an example of drum lines having no effect on safety.

"In Hawaii they spent 16 years killing tiger sharks through a hook and line program very similar to what we're doing. And it had no impact on the number of incidents with sharks," she said.

The WA government says it based its policy on Queensland's use of drum lines, where there has been only one fatal attack at a controlled beach since 1961.

"This is one we've followed because we didn't need to reinvent the wheel in following what Queensland's been doing," the Fisheries Minister Ken Baston said.

Mr Baston was unable to point to any studies about the efficacy of drum lines in Queensland.

"All I can say is that what their record is in actually protecting human beings and as I've said to various people that may knock it, what value do they put on human life?" he said.

Since 1962, the Queensland Government has also been using nets to protect swimmers - something that WA decided against.

Professor Meeuwig said that was a critical difference.

"If you look at the locations that are only protected by drum lines, so leaving nets aside, again there's no evidence that we've had improved safety outcomes from killing 1,000 sharks a year," she said.

Catch-and-kill policy remains controversial

In March, the EPA ruled out assessing Western Australia's controversial shark cull, saying it posed a negligible risk to the species.

The decision to cull has been controversial and there have been a number of public protests.

Earlier in March, Sea Shepherd failed to get a Supreme Court order to stop the cull.

It had argued the catch-and-kill policy had been improperly introduced, but the Supreme Court ruled the introduction of the drum lines was valid.

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Topics: animal-attacks, animals, animal-welfare, marine-biology, perth-6000, wa

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