Yorke Peninsula councillor Roger Johns wants shark culling to be considered after spate of attacks

Debate over how to reduce the number of shark attacks off SA’s coast is heating up with one local councillor maintaining culling should be discussed.

A Yorke Peninsula councillor has called for shark culling to be considered following the sixth shark attack in South Australia in the past year.

Elliston teacher Murray Adams, 64, was attacked by a Great White about 1pm Tuesday at Blacks just eight months after fellow teacher Simon Baccanello, 46, was fatally attacked on the same stretch of coastline.

Yorke Peninsula councillor Roger Johns said there needed to be a discussion on shark culling following the spate of shark attacks.

“If there are sharks that are frequenting popular water areas, there needs to be consideration for culling,” Mr Johns told The Advertiser.

“I think there is room for discussing the need to identify problem sharks that are frequenting recognised surfing and swimming areas – and even kayaking or paddle boarding areas which are also at risk – and culling those sharks.

“The Great White is an apex predator with no threat above them and they are also protected by the federal government.”

Forrest Cave steps down to the beach, Phillip Island. Photo Catherine Best.

Mr Johns said shark culling was a sensitive issue because the ocean was the shark’s natural habitat and it was the responsibility of beachgoers to be careful.

“There are so many sharks and people should use shark shields and deterrent devices,” he said.

Streaky Bay Mayor Travis Barber said shark prevention was on the agenda for the next Eyre Peninsula Local Government Association meeting happening sometime in February or March.

Mayor of Streaky Bay Travis Barber. Picture: Douglas Smith

“I think there’s going to be a lot of changes at government level … and I’ll be interested to see what conversations this agenda item raises,” he said.

Mr Barber said he sat on the fence with the shark culling debate admitting there were strong arguments on either side.

“At this stage, Streaky Bay Council have not made any measures around prevention,” he said.

“The (culling) debate, I think it’ll be quite a robust debate. I’m very 50-50,”

“I was in the fishing industry for quite a long time – over 15 years – and I’m not sure how successful culling really was.”

Mr McAdams was surfing a few hundred metres off the coastline when the shark attacked on Tuesday.

Despite bleeding heavily, Mr Adams, with assistance from others, made his way to the local Elliston Hospital and was later flown to the Royal Adelaide Hospital where he had surgery.

Victorian surfer Troy Outtram, 46, was the only other person out in the water at the time of the attack and helped Mr Adams to safety.

“All of a sudden he gets to the end of the wave and started screaming: ‘shark, shark’, he said.

“He was worried about me … I paddled into the cliffs because that’s a shallow spot (and) that’s where he was going.

“He looked at me and said ‘bloody hell that was pretty exciting’.”

Mr Outtram said he initially noticed a bite mark on Mr Adams’ surfboard before he saw the injuries.

“I couldn’t believe the size of the bite mark,” he said.

There have been six shark attacks in SA in the past 12 months of which two were fatal.

Originally published as Yorke Peninsula councillor Roger Johns wants shark culling to be considered after spate of attacks