SHARK
ATTACK — PREVENTIVE MEASURES
1246. Hon LYNN MacLAREN to the
Leader of the House representing the Premier:
I refer to the Premier's comments in the media in
recent weeks about developing new measures for responding to shark hazards.
(1) Can the
minister please provide an update on the government's development of
new measures to kill large sharks seen near popular beaches and/or following
shark bite incidents?
(2) When should we
expect to see these new measures or policy in place?
(3) Will the government refer any new measures
that involve the potential killing of sharks to the Environmental Protection
Authority for assessment?
(4) If no to (3), why not?
(5) Does the government acknowledge
that any new policy designed to kill white sharks will face the same objection
that the Environmental Protection Authority raised about the government's
drum line strategy—namely, that there is too much scientific
uncertainty about the south western white shark population to justify more of
them being killed?
Hon
PETER COLLIER replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of this
question.
(1) The
authority to deploy gear in the event of a shark attack has been in place since
2009 and formed part of the imminent threat policy that was introduced in 2012.
(2) Minor
amendments are being made to the aforementioned policy and these will be
finalised in the next several weeks.
(3) No.
(4) This is not a new policy; it has been in place since
2012.
(5) No, on the
basis that this is not a new policy and that a risk assessment undertaken by
the Department of Fisheries considers the policy will not have a significant
impact on the targeted species.