Shark attacks: Clubs and groups call for great whites to be taken off protected list

EXCLUSIVE: They’re a safeguarded species but after a recent spate of attacks and numbers “going through the roof” calls are growing for great whites to be taken off the protected list.

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THEY’RE a safeguarded species but after a recent spate of attacks and numbers “going through the roof” calls are growing for great whites to be taken off the protected list.

Despite nine shark attacks across the state in the past year alone, including six between Ballina and Byron Bay on the State’s North Coast, the plan put in place to protect the deep sea killer is not scheduled for review until 2018.

The lack of action has left fishermen and board riders perplexed.

A 3.5m great white shark came within 50m of surfers and swimmers at the Pass in Byron Bay.

Ballina fisherman David Woods used to hunt great white sharks before they were protected in 1998 and said numbers were now booming.

“I’ve been fishing for 40 years, 10 years ago, you’d be lucky to see one, maybe you’d see one every four to five years. What changed? They got protected,” Mr Woods said.

“They’ve come back with a ­vengeance but the Fisheries (NSW Department of Primary Industries) won’t admit it.

“In the few meetings I’ve had with them they won’t admit the numbers have ­increased, but they have bred up quickly and there are so many more of that particular shark than there used to be.”

Cliff Corbett, a spanner crab fisherman based in Ballina, agreed. He has seen his steel frame crab pots chewed into balls like gum by the sharks.

“There’s more sharks out there than people think and the people who know that are the fishermen,” he says.

Jade Fitzpatrick was surfing at Broken Head in late October when he was attacked. Picture: Facebook

Cooper Allen was attacked by a 4m great white shark in Ballina in September. Picture: Channel 7

Don Munro, president of the Le-Ba (Lennox-Ballina) board ­riders, called for an immediate ­review of the protection plan.

“I know the numbers are ­increasing and they are no longer an endangered species. That ­protection order has to be ­reviewed and soon,” Mr Munro said.

White sharks were listed as ­vulnerable in 1998 before a recovery plan was instituted in 2002.

A review in 2008 found that “progress had been made” while a later 2012 review found there was still a “lack of evidence supporting a recovery of white shark numbers”.

One of the issues facing ­researchers is no one appears to know how many sharks are off our beaches.

The CSIRO, which has been tasked with investigating a national population assessment for the white shark, supported by $644,000 of Australian government funding, does not have ­figures yet.

The DPI also has no figures.

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Residents in Northern NSW say seeing great whites has become an almost everyday occurrence.

There have been 74 great whites tagged and released in northern NSW alone since the tagging program began in August 2015, most of them are juveniles under 5m.

In 2010, six whites were caught in the state’s 51 meshed beaches. In 2015, 10 were caught.

Just last week a 3.5m white was seen just 50m from surfers at The Pass.

Dave Pearson, who represents Bite Club, a group formed by shark attack survivors, said he agreed with the protection plan almost 20 years ago but things had changed.

“I think it needs to be reviewed now, we protected them and maybe we need to give out a few fishing licences again,” Mr Pearson said.

“In NSW we have 25 in the group who have been attacked since 2007 and five fatalities in that same time.”