Question On Notice No. 2955 asked in the Legislative Council on 21 April 2015 by Hon Lynn Maclaren
Question Directed to the: Leader of the House representing the Premier
Parliament: 39 Session: 1
Question
I refer to the Guidelines for Taking Sharks Posing a Serious Threat to Public Safety, and I ask:
(a) which Government agency is responsible for these guidelines;
(b) on what date were these guidelines adopted by the Government;
(c) has the Government made the full text version of the guidelines available for members of the public to read and, if so, where is it available;
(d) if no to (c), why not; and
(e) starting from the date given in (b), please list all the times, dates and locations that the guidelines are being implemented, and against each occurence, please list the specific threat criteria in the guidelines that were met and the outcome of the implementation of the guidelines in terms of what marine animals, if any, were captured, released or destroyed?
Answered on 5 May 2015
The Department of the Premier and Cabinet advises:
a. The Department of Fisheries is responsible for the implementation of the Guidelines.
b. The Guidelines for Taking sharks posing a serious threat to public safety were approved by Government on 15 December 2014. They are preceded by the Government's previous Imminent Threat policy which was in place since September 2012.
c. Yes. The guidelines are available on the Department of Fisheries website at www.fish.wa.gov.au/Education-and-Partnerships/Shark-Hazard
d. Not applicable
e. The guidelines have been implemented twice as follows:
Warnbro Sound 19-21 December 2014
Specific threat criteria met - ongoing presence of a high hazard shark in a high public use area near where a previous fatal attack had occurred.
One tiger shark was captured by gear but it was released alive.
Cheynes Beach (Albany) 29-30 December 2014
Specific threat criteria met - fatal shark attack near a high public use area during a holiday period.
No marine animals captured by gear.