Plans to set baited shark-catching devices off West Australian beaches without nets could in fact endanger swimmers and surfers, an expert says.
Responding to a spate of shark attacks in the state's waters, the WA government has proposed using drum lines - baited hooks attached to drums fixed to the ocean floor - to catch the apex predators, which will be left to drown.
Queensland has been using drum lines for 51 years, with one fatal attack at a patrolled beach during that period, but also uses nets to prevent sharks that are lured by the baits from coming close to shore.
Christopher Neff, an American PhD student at the University of Sydney conducting the first doctoral thesis on the politics of shark attacks, said West Australian beachgoers would actually be more at risk of attack if the planned drum lines were not accompanied by nets.
"I'm befuddled by the rationale of how baiting sharks towards the beaches is meant to reduce the risk of a shark attack," Mr Neff told AAP.
After Texan man George Wainwright was killed by a shark while scuba diving at Rottnest Island in October 2011, drum lines were set.
But they had to be brought in within a few hours because they attracted large numbers of tuna, followed by sharks that sought to prey on the fish.
"They were creating a more dangerous situation than what they were previously," Mr Neff said.
There were no easy solutions and the prevailing scientific view was that human encounters with sharks rose as populations grew, with more people going into the water.
"And Perth has had a tremendous increase," Mr Neff said.
"There is no evidence that culling reduces the risk of shark bites.
"But it's clear that politics is doing the decision making, not science."
Animals Australia spokeswoman Lisa Chalk said it was common sense that baiting sharks would only attract more, which would increase the likelihood of attacks.
She said the animal welfare group urged the WA government to reconsider the plan and implement better methods to "repel" sharks.
Liberal government whip in the WA Legislative Council, Phil Edman - who has dived with great whites - is against culling and suggests beachgoers use electronic pulse-emitting devices such as Shark Shield to lower the risk of attack.
There was also criticism for the state government's plan, announced along with the drum line proposal on Tuesday, to pay professional shark fishermen to patrol WA waters and kill any shark bigger than three metres in designated zones spanning vast tracts of the southern coastline during summer.
WA Shark Fishing Association president Brian Scimone said the state government had not been in contact or sought input.
"It shocked me when it came out on the news," Mr Scimone told AAP.
He said the simplest solution would be to allow commercial shark fishermen back in metropolitan waters after a seven-year ban.
Conservation activists Sea Shepherd seek to legally oppose the state government proposals, while Greens MP Lynn MacLaren tabled a petition against the plan in parliament on Wednesday.
