The authority of Western Australia has announced to invest more than $13.65million over the next five years to help reduce the potential risk of shark attacks in response to a review of Western Australia’s shark mitigation strategies. Fisheries Minister Norman Moore said the review was important in light of three tragic incidents this year, where sharks were known or believed to have been involved.
According to the statement issued by Moore the Government had already moved to increase Surf Lifesaving WA (SLWA) helicopter surveillance patrols along Perth beaches and Rottnest Island, with additional services soon to begin in the South-West, which will be particularly important during holiday periods and schoolies celebrations. He told that there will separate Shark Response Units with capabilities to tag sharks that appear to be resident near popular swimming beaches and would also assess technologies like shark repellent devices and community alert systems such as SMS warnings and social media.
He informed that the government will fund $1.7million to support four related research projects, enabling the Department of Fisheries to explore correlations between shark sightings and attacks with locations, weather conditions, water temperatures and the activity of marine mammals that may attract sharks. Another research project will examine the impact on shark numbers and a study to assess the effectiveness of beach netting as a potential hazard mitigation strategy.
The authority also extended the ban on the disposal of offal and blood at popular swimming and surfing beaches in Perth and selected regional locations. Fines for such illegal disposal would increase from $2,000 to $10,000. The Minister said that there will also be new provisions drawn up to implement a licensing regime for shark feeding and shark cage tourism operations.
