‘Non-lethal’ Qld shark control program claims nearly 700

The Greens have slammed the state government’s “non-lethal” shark control program as the true environmental impact emerges.

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More than 700 sharks have been captured and at least 469 have died since the state government’s controversial “non-lethal” shark control program on the Great Barrier Reef was reactivated in early 2020.

Greens MP Michael Berkman slammed the government’s method of managing sharks on the Reef as “pure pantomime”, saying most of the species captured had never bitten anyone.

Of the 753 animals captured since the program began, 203 were tiger sharks and 163 bull sharks, while 358 were classified as “other sharks”.

No great white sharks were caught, 29 other species were captured and about 63 per cent of those caught died.

Agriculture Minister Mark Furner stood by the program, saying the government would not compromise human safety.

“We are committed to continual improvement, but we will not make changes until we find effective alternatives that are proven to be suitable for Queensland conditions,” he said.

In 2019, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal ordered the government to abandon its previous Great Barrier Reef shark control program – where sharks captured on drumlines would be shot dead – and move to a non-lethal catch-and-release program.

But Mr Berkman questioned the validity of that move, given the data showed close to two-thirds of all animals which were caught, died.

Greens MP Michael Berkman

“A program that kills the majority of animals caught on the Reef is not non-lethal,” Mr Berkman said.

“Across Queensland, drumlines are only in operation about half the time, and when they do catch sharks it’s usually overnight when no one would be swimming anyway.

“Meanwhile, thousands of other marine animals, including whales, dolphins and turtles, some of them threatened species, are caught, suffer and die in nets.”

Mr Furner said shark contractors operating within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park checked the drumlines up to 260 days a year.

On how many sharks tagged and released were still alive six months later, Mr Furner said the network did not operate in real-time, and “information about tagged sharks and other marine life will provide valuable information to the broader scientific community”.

“Detections of sharks tagged in the shark control program will be analysed in consultation with experts and the shark control program scientific working group once enough data has been collected,” he said.

Mr Berkman said he found the lack of current data “pretty dodgy”.

“Nets and drumlines are indiscriminate traps for marine life, and have never been shown to actually improve swimmer safety,” he said.

“This Labor government is ignoring the evidence and refusing to replace nets and drumlines with genuine alternatives like electric deterrents, purely because they fear political blowback.”