Greenies launch hunt for Aussie shark hunters

Killer sharks and the government officials that want them dead are the new public enemies of Australia after an unprecedented spate of shark attacks off the West Australian (WA) coastline has ushered in anti-shark policies that just would not float. The Australian Greens would not even have a taste of WA Premier Colin Barnett's measures and have this week called on the WA Government to abandon its shark cull policy as community opposition continues to grow. The WA state government has imposed a slew of measures in response to the recent fatal attacks that have earned the state an unwelcome reputation as the world's deadliest coastline. Six people have been killed and several more attacked in WA waters since September 2011. An open letter to the WA Government co-signed by 100 scientists has been published this week by Support our Sharks and calls for non-lethal measures to protect beach-goers, along with a greater investment in research and monitoring. "Community opposition to the WA Government's plan to cull sharks through measures like drum lines has been increasing since it was announced," Senator Rachel Siewert, Australian Greens marine spokesperson said on Tuesday. WA has been criticized for what environmentalists are calling a shark-cull war with tough, new measures to tackle sharks attacks after an unprecedented string of deadly encounters. The Premier announced that the WA government would immediately set baited drum lines to catch large sharks one kilometer from shore, with vessels monitoring the drum lines. These drum lines will be set along heavily used beaches in the metropolitan area and the South-West, and will be deployed 24 hours a day initially from January 2014 through until April 2014. Another Greens spokesperson, Lynn MacLaren said official figures from Natal, South Africa, showed that drum lines will kill many more harmless marine species than dangerous species. "The WA Government has justified its unpopular new shark cull policy by citing experiences elsewhere yet an examination of the few places in the world where drum lines have been introduced shows that drum lines kill far more harmless species than they do tiger and great white sharks," MacLaren said. "An examination of the annual reports of the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board in Natal, South Africa, shows that for the past two years, the number of tiger and great white sharks caught in drum lines and nets off Natal has been outnumbered by five times by the capture of smaller sharks, catfish, humpback whales and leatherback and green turtles." However, Barnett said the new measures would improve public safety and build on the State Government's strong approach to shark hazard management. "These new initiatives come on top of a raft of measures the State Government already has in place to protect beachgoers, like increased aerial surveillance, beach patrols, shark tagging and a trial of a shark enclosure in the South-West," the Premier said. "We are aware of the risks sharks pose to our beach users and the Western Australian way of life and we are implementing strategies to reduce these risks." The furor has snowballed after the knee-jerk measures were initiated before Christmas, after another fatal shark attack in just two weeks ago. A 35-year-old man was surfing at Gracetown in southern WA when a shark, believed to be a great white, leapt from the water across another surfer's board and fatally attacked the experienced surfer. This latest death has renewed a national debate about surrounding shark attacks from the efficacy and safety of netting beaches, to search and destroy powers residing in state governments. In her open letter, an irate Senator Siewart said beachgoers do not want to enjoy summer swimming at the cost of a shark-cull dressed up as environmentalism. "Like thousands of West Australians, I am looking to spending some time at the beach and in the water over the Christmas break. She said that over the last few weeks the overwhelming feeling from West Australians "is one of concern about the WA Government's approach." "People want to feel safe, but also understand the importance of protecting our marine environment and vulnerable species." Her petition now has more than 35,000 signatures and is continuing to grow. "Rather than culling, we need renewed investment in research to better under sharks, their numbers and their behaviors, in order to develop evidence based, non-lethal methods to mitigate any threats they pose." "The community is sending a clear message to the WA and Federal Governments, and they need to pay attention," Senator Siewert concluded. Research from South Africa showed that in most cases, the capture of small, harmless sharks has led to their deaths; the sharks have suffocated because once caught on a drum line hook they cannot move sufficiently to pass water over their gills and receive oxygen. A Bond University study recommended against the use of drum lines, suggesting that the unintended catch of species like dolphins, would be especially high within the first years that drum lines were deployed. "I suspect that this and the slow, cruel death that drum lines cause are the real reasons that the Premier has hinted that he will not allow the public to see the captures on drum lines if they are deployed," Greens spokesmen Maclaren said. Andrew Davis, a semi-professional surfer from Fremantle declared that common sense was the best solution for anyone keen on getting in the water this summer. "I love to swim, and I love sharks...Neither of these need to be mutually exclusive." "I've been in the water everyday this year and no one's bitten me I'm more likely to bitten by a politician or a greenie with all this nonsense going on," Davis told Xinhua by phone.