Update on Shark Cull in Western Australia

Last month, I blogged about the proposed shark cull in Western Australia. Now, I have an update on what  happened with this: Victory for the sharks!

Recently, Western Australia’s sharks have caused a bit of a raucous; there have been four lethal shark attacks in the past fourteen months. To prevent further injury, local politicians and residents proposed a drastic solution: a shark cull.

To prevent the unnecessary deaths of sharks and other wildlife that would have been caught by the culling nets, activist Ryan Kempster and the NARC dive club started an online petition that was signed by nearly 19,000 people. As a result, the WA government opted for non-lethal shark monitoring measures. On November 15, 2011 the WA Fisheries Minister Norman Moore announced that the WA government will invest $13.65 million over the next five years towards this effort. In order to reduce the risk of shark attacks, this money will go to creating a shark response unit (including increased aerial surveillance), more shark research, and swimmer education. The great white shark tagging program will also be extended for two more years, and will focus on sharks near popular swimming areas. Additionally, the Fisheries department will further assess local fisheries management practices.

Norman Moore stated that the WA government is “trying to get a balance between protecting these species, which are protected under law, at the same time as giving people as much information as [the government] can about the likelihood of a shark attack when they go swimming.”

Shark culling nets don’t work. The majority of the sharks caught in the nets are headed back out to sea. Instead, these nets are excellent at indiscriminately killing innocent wildlife, such as seals, whales, stingrays, turtles, and dolphins.

Ryan Kempster expressed his appreciation: “This is a great day for our WA sharks and shark conservation worldwide.” Well said, Ryan.

Thank you to everybody who signed the petition and supported shark conservation! They are vital to the oceanic environment and play a key role in maintaining balance.

About Brittany Hahn

I’m Brittany Hahn. I will be graduating this year from UCLA as a Psychobio major. My career goal is to find an opportunity that will allow me to save marine mammals, in any way that I can. I decided to start this blog so that I can tell people the things affecting the creatures that I care so much about. My hope is people will be touched after reading about my feelings of desperation about these ongoing cruelties, at least in some ways. It truly hurts me that our generation is so apathetic towards the sufferings of marine animals. I know that there are so many other horrible things in this world, but I think that if we all cared a little more, and if we all helped a little more, we could make this world a little brighter. It’s easier not to care, but that doesn’t mean that it’s right.
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2 Responses to Update on Shark Cull in Western Australia

  1. Mike says:

    Really good news.

    Let us hope the authorities don’t backtrack on the decision – good to know at least one government listen to the voice of the people.

    Now if only we could get the the nets removed from beaches in South Africa too – Durban and surrounding holiday centres. The local organisation that install and maintain these nets has agreed nets are ineffective, and environmentally disastrous – however objections from the holiday related industry have kept these lethal gill nets in place.

    Best wishes for your future career!

  2. Mo Brock says:

    Excellent news!! Thank you for this!

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