Shark nets slip off WA political agenda

29 Aug 2012, 7:02 pm   -   Source: AAP

Both WA Premier Colin Barnett and Opposition Leader Mark McGowan say shark nets are off the agenda because they kill sharks and other marine life.

Shark nets have slipped off the West Australian political agenda as the Fisheries Department prepares to reopen a coastal strip after another attack.

A 34-year-old man, originally from Newcastle in NSW but now based in Margaret River, was mauled by a shark in a remote part of the Gascoyne region, about 140km north of Carnarvon, on Tuesday afternoon.

The man, reportedly a fearless big-wave surfer known as "Hynsey", was flown to Royal Perth Hospital overnight and remains in a stable condition.

A Department of Fisheries spokesman said the surfer was bitten on the abdomen and then on an arm as he tried to fend off the beast.

He said beaches near Red Bluff Point had been closed all of Wednesday and would probably be reopened on Thursday, but that was yet to be decided.

Premier Colin Barnett indicated that shark nets probably won't be introduced at WA beaches, saying the safest measure was for bathers to swim between the flags.

A report commissioned by the WA government was "not particularly encouraging towards" shark nets because they killed sharks along with other sea creatures, he said.

"A shark net is in fact a shark trap ... and people have very mixed views about shark nets when they see it in that context, but there are other things that are being looked at," Mr Barnett told ABC radio.

Opposition Leader Mark McGowan said he was also against shark nets and culls, instead favouring the creation of public baths at beaches.

"If you go down the route of culls of sharks, you're basically not in accord with what I think community opinion is," Mr McGowan told reporters.

"There's safe ways of dealing with this issue ... you create ocean pools in which people have the opportunity of enjoying the ocean whilst enjoying the safety of the pools as well."

Mr Barnett said the WA government would consider easing restrictions on the number of sharks professional fisherman could catch and culling large great whites that lurk close to swimming areas.

The government was also looking at providing surf life saving clubs with more equipment to help them protect people in the water, and had increased shark patrols.

The state government recently asked federal environment minister Tony Burke to assess great white shark numbers for signs of recovery since they were listed as protected in WA in 1997.

The request came in July, after the fifth fatal shark attack in WA waters in 10 months.

Mr Barnett said he believed shark numbers had risen.

"The bottom line is, there clearly are more sharks," he said.

He and Mr McGowan echoed shark experts in noting that most shark attacks targeted divers and surfers in remote locations, not at patrolled metropolitan beaches.

"I think that's where we've got to give people absolute confidence: when you swim on a beach between the flags, you're safe," the premier said.

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