But what makes the cull so controversial and why does the government believe the program is so important?
The measure is the WA government’s response to seven fatal shark attacks off the state’s coast in the last three years, the most recent of which took place in November when a surfer was killed by a great white shark near a beach south of Perth.
The goal of the cull is to seek out all potential killer sharks to make WA’s beaches safer.
A catch-and-kill policy has been instated as part of the program in order to keep sharks thought to be dangerous to humans – particularly bull, tiger and great white sharks, away from WA beaches.
Baited hooks on large traps called drum lines are placed near popular beaches in order to attract sharks.
The ones that take the bait are trapped and eventually die or are shot by roving squads in boats that kill sharks over three metres long.
Between the end of January and mid-February, a total of 66 sharks have been captured, of which, 63 were tiger sharks.
Of those caught, 17 were killed and nine were found dead on the hooks.
Though great whites are thought to be the cause of most of the fatal shark attacks, not one has been caught.
The program went ahead after federal environment minister Greg Hunt granted WA an exemption under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
This allows the WA government to kill great white sharks which are listed as “protected” under the act until the trial period ends on April 30.
Culling criticism
Allowing the state government to kill protected species has angered environmental and activist groups like Sea Shepherd amidst global efforts to preserve shark species which are in decline.
This week, Sea Shepherd attempted to secure a court injunction in order to suspend culling in WA but the request was declined.
Other conservation groups have criticised the program for the lack of evidence on the effectiveness.
They say there is no proof baited lines will reduce the number of shark attacks and the program runs the risk of harming other wildlife in the area.
Statistics have also been released that claim shark attacks are at their lowest levels in half a decade.
According to research by the University of Florida, there were ten shark attacks in Australia in 2013, the lowest number since 2008.
Shark control in other states
Queensland uses a combination of baited drum lines and shark nets to keep sharks away from humans.
New South Wales only uses nets and only for half of the year.
Unlike WA, neither Queensland nor NSW has targeted killing of larger sharks.
According to a report on shark netting by the NSW government, only one shark attack at a netted beach occurred between 2012 and 2013 and only involved a person’s surf board being bitten.
In the same time period, 73 sharks died in the entanglements, of which 25 were targeted species and 9 were threatened species.
