Big sharks may be forced to hunt closer to shore if Perth’s shark fishery reopens, the former Labor minister who imposed the fishing ban nine years ago warns.
As fisheries minister in the Carpenter Government, Jon Ford stopped commercial shark fishing off Perth in 2007 to protect stocks of smaller whiskery, dusky and sandbar sharks.
In the wake of two fatal shark attacks in a week, Premier Colin Barnett has told Fisheries experts to re-examine whether the shark fishing ban had increased the number of great whites off WA.
But Mr Ford said resuming the catch of smaller shark species off Perth would upset the food chain because of the accidental bycatch of fish the bigger predators prey on.
Lifting the ban would ultimately limit large oceanic sharks’ feeding options because of the bycatch problem. It would upset the food chain, Mr Ford said.
This may have the unintentional consequence of making large sharks like the great whites come closer towards the shore more often, increasing human interactions.
News Corp 2016