However misguided the previous message may be to some, including me, it did hit one nail on the head: tourism. I wonder how much the tourist lobby, particuarly that near the Bussleton electorate of the now former fisheries minister Troy Buswell (For our eatsern states' readers, yes, he of chair-sniffing fame), has been whispering in the State Government's ear about saving the image of WA?

As a kiter, spending most of my time on top of the water, sharks don't really bother me. Statistically, of the time I spend "on" versus "in" the water I'm safe as houses. So I'm not really sure which side of the fence I sit in this debate.
But I'm starting to think, surely this isn't such a bad compromise for both opposing parties? I mean at least now it looks like "something" is being done, and alternately, for the shark lovers, it's only a drop in the ocean as far as the area nominated as kill zones.
?

Hopefully they bait the first couple of drums with Barnett & Buswell I doubt even the sharks would eat them.

So what do think having baited drums 1 Km off shore is going to do Johno??? what are these professional fishermen going to do when the sharks are attracted into our zone by the baited drums???

We have a state government that turned down a million dollar plus offer for more research to come up with this bird brained solution so they look like they are doing something and you think it's going to help. Please Really.

I'm a Kite Surfer on the far east east coast Lord Howe Island. Most of the time I sit back read & think when checking out this forum, not a bad way to be. This will no doubt raise more debate. I am a fisherman & love the ocean. The shark thing is a national issue & needs to be addressed that way. The last thing I think about when kite surfing is sharks, but when I am fishing that is a different story. It has been increasingly difficult to land fish due to sharks taking the fish.

I live in a unique location, world heritage listed, marine park, no export of fish, 400 bed tourist limit, isolated & exposed to weather from every direction. I capture fish by line, no nets no traps. I treat each fish humanely with respect and only take what we need.

Every fish is brain spiked, bled & placed in an ice slurry & yes it is the best fish you will ever taste. I truly believe the shark issue should be managed locally with sensible, sustainable fisheries management. I also cook the fish at our restaurant. (From Hook to Cook)

The following link provides some food for thought whether you agree or not check it out. drawingthelinemovie.com/videos







By the way the charity fundraiser for prostate cancer was a great success raising just under $7000. All in all 5 Kiters including Ben Wilson & Ian Young made the 20 nm crossing from Ball's Pyramid to Lord Howe in around 1 hour 20 min. We spent a couple of hours kiting around Ball's prior to making the crossing. Thank you to those who gave their support. By the way no sharks were sighted

I will gladly get down off my soap box, we are all entitled to our own opinions on this contentious issue. I am just dismayed at my state government for refusing an offer for further research into shark behaviour and adopting in my opinion a draconian solution which will only appease the masses for so long if it works and without understanding the problem there is no guarantee it will have any effect.

1QAZ2WSX said...
Ok using your caveman logics, let's go kill every bee near humans, remove every vending machine, stop people driving motor vehicles, ban skydiving and kill every hippo near humans!! Yes that's right, these kill more people than sharks! Disgraceful decision, we're doomed as a race, not long till Mother Nature sorts us out with some of her finest forces

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This argument regularly comes up and grinds my gears.

182 car fatalities in WA in 2012.
WA population is 2.1 million and say a million drive an average of an hour a day
In a year this is 365,000,000 hours on the road a year
1 death per 2,000,000 driving hours


Shark attacks 6 in two years
Say a thousand surfers surf for one hour a day
365,000 hours a year
1 death per 121,000 hours from sharks

Means your 16 times more likely to get eaten by a shark if you're a surfer than die driving your car.

Don???t get me started thinking about vending machine and bee exposure.

It's not about CHANCE of being killed but rather amount of people killed! I would bet you everything I own that number shark attacks will remain the same after this culling starts! Mark my words. They are not going to patrol every beach 24/7 are they?

There's a long discussion on this going in the General Forum.

The proposal is moronic. Laying baits 1km off shore? Come on.

Lure the sharks into the zone -> knock them off -> Barnett seen as a hero. It's a political play!

Watch how many bronzes and tigers get mowed for no reason.

the good news is they got sfa research done after spending millions over the last decade so they will probably catch sfa sharks anyway.
All this hysteria has done is given the politicians another opportunity to get votes

I think maybe that Baits set only 1km on regular basis may attract more sharks??? This is possibly only a 5-10 minute swim for a shark to venture in a bit closer and just take some ones leg off as it will still be in feed mode after sniffing the baits all day long.

Freddofrog said...

Haydn24 said..

Ok using your caveman logics, let's go kill every bee near humans, remove every vending machine, stop people driving motor vehicles, ban skydiving and kill every hippo near humans!! Yes that's right, these kill more people than sharks! Disgraceful decision, we're doomed as a race, not long till Mother Nature sorts us out with some of her finest forces

So what solutions did you propose, get behind, write to your local mp about. What none? So you're just another whinger huh....

Gee jump to conclusions why don't you?

Firstly there is good research being done on these shark behaviors, movements and numbers. With this culling, that goes out the window because it is the "solution". This research should continue.

6 attacks In 2 years?! Come on. With a bit of education, some of these attacks wouldn't have happened (surfing at dusk/dawn etc).

Leave the GWs alone, stop fkn feeding them from cages and only enter water at appropriate times.

If you seriously think killing these animals because they swim too close to a beach if going to stop attacks, you're going to be very surprised. Attacks will NOT decrease.

My solution: let them be, face the risk like every other thing you do in your life, if it's too much for your liking then go do another activity.

Weta said...
Hopefully they bait the first couple of drums with Barnett & Buswell I doubt even the sharks would eat them.

Nah, sharks prefer humans live.....that's why they circle.....

They circle to scare the sh it out of people.... Taste better that way.....

Would be circling for a good 3 hours before you got rid of the bulls hit out of a politician.

we have at lease 4-7 baited shark bois along every beach in central qld. the baits get checked every second day, they mainly get whalers but every now and then they get a big tiger. I was with the crew one day when they caught a 12ft tiger, they had to tow it into the beach , when we got it into chest deep water we saw at least 4 other sharks follow it in, wether they were trying to feed of the caught shark or whatever else. but at the end of the day I think these baits are bringing the sharks.

Although I am a kitesurfer I have been surfing in WA water for 30 years and finally in the last 2 years I have stopped and have limited my surfing to Indo. Which is a real shame because nothing makes me happier than surfing in WA and enjoying the WA coastline..I'm glad they are doing something about it ( besides research )... I just hope it works...

Haydn24 said..

1QAZ2WSX said...
Ok using your caveman logics, let's go kill every bee near humans, remove every vending machine, stop people driving motor vehicles, ban skydiving and kill every hippo near humans!! Yes that's right, these kill more people than sharks! Disgraceful decision, we're doomed as a race, not long till Mother Nature sorts us out with some of her finest forces

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This argument regularly comes up and grinds my gears.

182 car fatalities in WA in 2012.
WA population is 2.1 million and say a million drive an average of an hour a day
In a year this is 365,000,000 hours on the road a year
1 death per 2,000,000 driving hours


Shark attacks 6 in two years
Say a thousand surfers surf for one hour a day
365,000 hours a year
1 death per 121,000 hours from sharks

Means your 16 times more likely to get eaten by a shark if you're a surfer than die driving your car.

Don???t get me started thinking about vending machine and bee exposure.

It's not about CHANCE of being killed but rather amount of people killed! I would bet you everything I own that number shark attacks will remain the same after this culling starts! Mark my words. They are not going to patrol every beach 24/7 are they?

Ill take that bet mate - just have a look at the statistics on the east coast you muppett - Fisherman will be taking out large numbers for the first couple months - as soon as a shark larger than 3m is spotted in the killzone - it will be killed !