The Western Australian shark cull is the common term for a former state government policy of capturing and killing large sharks (shark culling) in the vicinity of swimming beaches by use of baited drum lines. The policy was implemented in 2014 to protect human swimmers from shark attack following the deaths of seven people on the Western Australian coastline in the years 2010 to 2013. National public demonstrations opposing the policy attracted international attention to the issue. In September 2014 the seasonal setting of drum lines was abandoned following a recommendation made by the Western Australian Environment Protection Authority. From December 2014 to March 2017, the special deployment of drum lines was permitted in cases where sharks were deemed to present a serious threat to public safety. This policy allowed the government of Western Australia to kill "high-hazard" sharks it found to be a threat to humans; the policy was criticized by senator Rachel Siewart for damaging the environment. In March 2017 the use of drum lines was abandoned by the newly elected West Australian state government. In August 2018 following continual shark attacks the West Australian state government reversed their position and announced a 12-month trial of "SMART" drumlines along Western Australia's South West coast, near Gracetown.
Justification and policy Australia has the highest number of fatal shark attacks in the world, with Western Australia recently becoming the deadliest place in the world for shark attacks, with the number of total and fatal shark bites growing exponentially over the last 40 years. Since 2000 there have been 17 fatal shark attacks along the West Australian coast. In the south west of Western Australia the chances of a surfer having a fatal shark bite in winter or spring are 1 in 40,000 and for divers it is 1 in 16,000. In comparison to the risk of a serious or fatal cycling accident, this represents three times the risk for a surfer and seven times the risk for a diver.
In response the Western Australian state government at the time, led by Premier Colin Barnett and Fisheries Minister Troy Buswell, developed a policy that authorises and funds the deployment of drum lines near popular beaches: baited mid-water hooks designed to catch and kill great white sharks, bull sharks and tiger sharks. All sharks found hooked but still alive and measuring over in length are to be shot and their bodies disposed of at sea.
The principle behind the policy is to reduce the threat of shark attacks at popular coastal locations. It aims to achieve this by reducing the number of potentially life-threatening sharks by attracting them to baited hooks, rather than to human activity.
Following a change in the Western Australian state government in March 2017, the newly elected Premier Mark McGowan and Fisheries Minister David Kelly stated that they do not support the previous governments' drumline policy. In August 2018 this policy was reversed when a 12-month trial of "smart" drumlines was announced.
Implementation The use of 72 drum lines to bait and hook large sharks in Western Australian waters was implemented in January 2014. Two "marine monitored areas" have been established, stretching off shore from Quinns to Warnbro in the Perth metropolitan area, and Forest Beach to Cape Naturaliste and Prevelly in the state's south. Sharks larger than found in these areas are to be hunted and killed by professional fishermen.
Australia's Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt granted the WA Government a temporary exemption from national environment laws protecting great white sharks, to allow the otherwise illegal acts of harming or killing the species.
Ken Baston replaced Buswell as Fisheries minister on 11 December 2013 and is currently the minister responsible for the policy.
Cost Leaked documents revealed that the fishermen are being paid $610,000 for 107 days of work setting and maintaining drum lines. The government's suite of shark mitigation measures, which also include increased air patrols, have been estimated to cost $20 million.Clarke, Tim "Large sharks in beach "kill zones" will be hunted" PerthNow, Western Australia (11 December 2013). Retrieved 6 February 2014.Milman, Oliver "Shark cull feeds into broader fear that Australia's treasures are under assault" The Guardian, Australia (5 February 2014). Retrieved 6 February 2014.
Support Long term shark control programs using shark nets and/or drumlines have been very successful in reducing the incidence of shark attacks at the protected beaches. In Queensland, there has been only one fatal attack on a controlled beach since 1962, compared to 27 fatal attacks between 1919 and 1961. Statistics from the NSW Department of Primary Industries indicate that before nets were introduced in NSW in 1936 there was an average of one fatal shark attack every year. There has been only one fatal attack on a protected beach since then and that was in 1951. Similarly, between 1943 and 1951 the South African city of Durban experienced seven fatal attacks but there have been none since nets were introduced in 1952. A more recent comparison shows that in South Africa there were three shark attacks, none fatal, at protected beaches in KwaZulu-Natal between 1990 and 2011, while there were 20 fatal attacks in the same period at unprotected beaches in the Eastern and Western Cape Provinces.
Drumlines have also been used with great success in Recife, Brazil where the number of attacks has been shown to have reduced by 97% when the drumlines are deployed.
The policy was supported by the ruling of the WA Supreme Court in which Justice James Edelman rejected an application from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society for an immediate injunction to have the baited drumlines removed.
The Environmental Protection Authority of Western Australia initially ruled out assessing the policy, stating in March 2014 that due to its limited timeframe and small scale the policy posed a negligible risk to the environment. Paul Vogel, the chairman of the EPA, said that public opinion did not form the basis for an environmental impact assessment, and that "The risk assessment and the expert advice we got from competent, professional scientists in this area says there is a negligible risk to the target and non-target species of sharks from this proposal". In April 2014, the Authority announced that it had set a Public Environmental Review level of assessment on shark policy, with a four-week public submission period.
The policy also received the support of a group of surfers in Margaret River.
Opposition
The policy has been heavily criticised by animal rights activists and their supporters, including those of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society,Hansen, Jeff "Barnett Government's Shark Cull Program delivers first cruel and barbaric fatality – a Beautiful Female Tiger Shark" Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Accessed 3 February 2014. No Shark Cull Inc., Humane Society International, Animals Australia,"Who's hunting who? Misguided responses to shark attacks" Animals Australia. Accessed 3 February 2014. Australian Marine Conservation Society, Greenpeace Australia,"Support our sharks" Greenpeace. Accessed 3 February 2014. Animal Justice Party and Surfrider Foundation.
Several marine scientists from the University of Western Australia have publicly expressed their concerns about the policy, including Jessica Meeuwig, director of the Centre for Marine Futures, Shaun Collin, Professor and Research Fellow of the School of Animal Biology and the Oceans Institute, and Ryan Kempster, shark biologist. They argue that such culls are cruel, unnecessary, unscientific, speciesist, and cause damage to the marine ecosystem.
The Australian Labor Party expressed opposition to the cull, and the Australian Greens political party also condemned the policy.
Celebrities voicing their opposition to the cull include surfer Kelly Slater, golfer Greg Norman ( The Shark), shark attack survivor and author Rodney Fox, swimmer and UNEP Patron of the Oceans Lewis Pugh, British comedian Ricky GervaisSamuels, Jonathan "Shark Cull: Sir Richard Branson slams policy" Sky News, Australia (2014-01). Retrieved 31 January 2014. and actor Stephen Fry. Entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson believes that the culling policy is likely to have an adverse effect on tourism.Ducey, Liam "Thousands rally as shark cull fury rises" WAToday (31 January 2014). Retrieved 2 February 2014.
Opponents to the policy claim that baiting and culling sharks (particularly the great white shark, which is a federally protected species) to be inhumane, environmentally irresponsible, and ineffective at reducing the incidence of shark attack. Environmental concerns include the bycatch of other marine species, drowning of undersize sharks caught on the hooks and the impact on globally declining shark populations, particularly the great white shark, which is listed on the IUCN Red List as "vulnerable". The IUCN lists global threats to great white sharks to include targeted commercial and sports fisheries, protective beach meshing, and "media-fanned campaigns to kill Great White Sharks after a biting incident occurs". Some people against the policy also believe drum lines have the potential to attract sharks to popular beaches.
Thousands of Australians protested on two national days of action organized by scuba diver Natalie Banks, prior to and following the policy's implementation. The first was held on 4 January and the second on 1 February. Thousands gathered at events around Australia, with largest turnouts at Perth's Cottesloe BeachWatson, Callie "At Glenelg and beachside suburbs around Australia, thousands of people protest controversial Western Australia shark cull" The Advertiser, South Australia (1 February 2014). Retrieved 2 February 2014. and Manly, New South Wales. Smaller demonstrations occurred at locations along the New South Wales central coast as well as Adelaide, Melbourne, Hobart and Broome. Protests were also held in New Zealand and South Africa.
The Leader of the Opposition Mark McGowan spoke against the shark cull policy at an anti-shark cull protest and on social media, and Opposition Fisheries Spokesperson Dave Kelly has also publicly denounced the policy.
The family of Sam Kellett, a man who was eaten by a great white shark, protested the cull and said Kellett would have also opposed the cull if he were alive.
Backlash Protesters have drawn criticism for going to extremes to show their displeasure with the policy, including threatening the lives of cabinet ministers and a fisherman's family. The premier's office was also targeted in an attack. Queensland's shark control program manager Jeff Krause said "I'm surprised and disgusted at the extent that they (protesters in WA) are prepared to threaten and vandalise," referring to the threats that prompted at least one contractor to withdraw from the tender process in WA. "Everyone has got their opinion and they are entitled to it and I understand that people say it's the sharks' domain, but I also understand the senseless waste of human life and we have the capability to reduce that risk."
Barnett has dismissed the public opposition as "ludicrous" and "extreme". His government claimed that killing the sharks is not culling them, but is using a "targeted, localised, hazard mitigation strategy".
History (1960s to 2014)
1960s In the 1960s, one fatal shark attack occurred in Western Australia. Robert Bartle was taken while spearfishing in Jurien Bay on 19 August 1967.
1968–1992 No fatal shark attacks were recorded in Western Australia during this 24-year period.
1993–1997 In the 1990s, three fatal shark attacks were recorded in Western Australia. Two of the victims were David Alan Weir (1995) and Werner Schonhofer (1997).
2000s