Great white shark attacks: Is culling the answer?

Wikimedia Commons

(CBS News) The spree of fatal shark attacks off the coast of Western Australia has prompted local officials to call for an end to the "protected species" status afforded to great white sharks. Some have even called for a culling program to drastically lower the population of sharks in the water. But would such a program cause more harm than good?

The death of 24-year-old surfer Ben Linden over the weekend was a brutal reminder of the recent surge in shark attacks. Linden was the fifth person in ten months to be killed by a shark.

"This has been a growing problem, not just a passing one," said Dr. Bob Hueter, director of Mote Marine Laboratory's Shark Biology and Conservation center in Sarasota, Flordia.

Many have pointed to the great whites' protected species status as a possible cause of the increased attacks. The ban on killing great whites has caused the shark population to surge, resulting in more cases of shark injuries.

But, speaking with CBS News, Dr. Hueter believes it is the increased human presence in the waters, not sharks, that is contributing to the problem.

"What people are doing is they're venturing out in Western Australia, further offshore into the feeding grounds of the sharks and they're putting themselves at risk." Dr. Hueter said. He believes that a culling program would be far more difficult and expensive - in addition to being potentially harmful to the ecosystem - than a simpler program of human awareness.

"You really can't manage fish, you can only manage people."

Speaking to Australia's ABC television, Australian fisheries minister Norman Moore said, "I think we need to have another look now to see whether or not there's been a significant increase in great white numbers since they became protected. And if that's the case, should they still be on a protected list?"

Dr. Hueter argues that it is nearly impossible to gauge what effect the great whites' protected status has had on the population. He points out that great white sharks are extremely rare, and believes there are "dozens of animals, not hundreds" off the Australian coast.

Allowing fishers to kill great whites could have far reaching consequences beyond the shores of Australia. Sharks are migratory animals, and great whites can range hundreds of miles. Dr. Hueter points to one shark that had been tagged for observation travelling from the coast of South Africa to Western Australia - traversing the entire Indian Ocean.

Any culling program would also affect the ocean's ecosystem in ways not easily understood. "There's plenty of evidence now that having healthy numbers of [sharks] is important to the health of the general ecosystem." Dr. Hueter says. He points to one incident where a program to remove sharks from a coral reef led to a cascading effect on the ecosystem that ultimately resulted in the death of the reefs.

In a certain light, the spree of shark attacks in the past ten months serves as a reminder of just how rare fatal shark-related incidents really are. Speaking with BBC News, John West, curator of the Australian Shark Attack File, said that fatal shark attacks average around one a year over that past two decades. He contrasts that with the fact that there were 87 drownings per year.

Dr. West does acknowledge that shark attacks have increased over the past decades. A 2011 study published in "Marine and Freshwater Research" showed that the total number of shark attacks in Australia rose from 6.5 incidents per year between 1990 and 2000 to 15 incidents per year in the past decade.

Even if a culling took place and fishers were allowed to kill any sharks they caught, it is unclear if such a program would have a lasting effect.

"These animals are mobile and migratory," Dr. Hueter told CBS News. Even if the entire great white population off Western Australia was destroyed, "other sharks would move in."

[reelaesthete]

Its important to remember there are other ways to protect yourself from sharks while diving and surfing, too. The Shark Shield is the only proved shark deterrent system. It's approved by NATO and used by the US Coast Guard, the Australian Special Forces, the South African and Australian Navy's and Abalone Associations. There really are other options than killing.

[bwitkin]

If anyone wants to help put an end to the illegal killing of an endangered species in it's own habitat, go here and sign. It takes less than a minute and we can make a difference instead of just complaining about it.

http://www.change.org/petitions/make-illegal-the-unprovoked-killing-of-great-whites

[sharkgirl13]

let's see... there's an estimated 3500 great white sharks in the world and 7 billion people. which population needs culling?

[Bojax39]

"Some have even called for a culling program to drastically lower the population of sharks in the water."

Yeah, typical. Humans put themselves in the way of sharks by entering their habitat and sharks pay the price. Want to be free from shark attacks? Visit the Outback instead of the beach for a change.

Hint: if you stop over fishing the waters further out, the big predators won't come closer in looking for food in the first place.

[knewsteerrrrr]

Yes, culling is the answer- of the HUMAN population not the sharks!

Stay the hell out of THEIR habitat and you won't have to worry about it.

[MakoMick]

NO culling is not the answer and The Australian Anti Shark Finning Alliance (TAASFA) is protesting the West Australian government to stop the hunt and to stop its attempts to reclassify the conservation status of Great White Sharks in that state. Please help us by signing our petition go to TAASFA.com and click the petition link

[Heberark]

It's really fractured logic to call for killing sharks (of any kind) because there are "more than there used to be" when it's documented fact that there are a lot fewer of them; and a small increase this year in the number of incidents (tragic and terrifying though they certainly are) doesn't prove anything. These are random events, and there may be more next year, or a lot fewer.
I live in Alaska, and only idiots or outsiders would call for slaughter of grizzly bears because there might be an annual increase in the number of incidents in any one year compared to the year before.
Reading the reactionary sentiments expressed by the aussies in this article would make me think that all Western Australians are idiots if my quite intelligent sister-in-law didn't live in Perth (and she wouldn't abide this numbnutz idea).

[Quaz436]

Stupid question....Yes, lets kill off the food chain in the ocean because we swim in the same water they feed in. You had better start living off plant life, thats all you will have left with that thought process.

[miramar87]

Great comment! And we need to stop the over fishing, which most likely causes these sharks to look closer to beaches and easy prey.
The cycle of life is so tenuous, and we are so greedy! It makes me very sad.

[miramar87]

I lived in (North Western Australia for three years and change, during the early "80's. Absolute heaven!
Basically we were told, if there are dolphins there are usually no
sharks. I spent about 75% of my off time on the beach and in or on the water. I never saw a great white. A pod of whale sharks (friendly) played with us one day while we were fishing, and my best friend, an Aussie, alerted me to a Sand Shark (rarely dangerous) I was wading straight towards.
My friends, who make their living from the sea, firmly believe it is the overfishing that is creating this terrible trend. And I believe them.

[brads_bbygirl992011]

Shark attacks will happen as long as people go into the water. People shouldn't kill them because they "think" its the answer. The water is a shark's home that people are invading. not the other way around. We all know what we would do if someone came in our house uninvited. not to mention people know the risks they take when they go into the water. So in reality it's not the sharks fault this is happening its the people who KNOW the risks and take it anyways. So no culling is NOT the answer.

-real talk