Ex-fisherman on Gold Coast says he’s shocked NSW Government slow to target sharks

FORMER fisherman Leonard Malcomlson spent much of his life hunting rogue sharks and can’t understand why the government won’t cull those found to be a ‘menace’ on the northern NSW Coast.

Leonard Malcolmson at Currumbin Beach. Picture: John Gass.

FORMER professional fisherman Leonard Malcomlson spent much of his life hunting rogue sharks and can’t understand why the government won’t cull those found to be a ‘menace’ on the northern NSW Coast.

The 87-year-old has had a number of close shaves with the predators over the years and in the wake of the latest shark attack at Ballina last month in which a 17-year-old was mauled at Lighthouse Beach, Mr Malcolmson said he was puzzled why authorities were yet to act.

“These sharks, once they get the idea that human beings can be attacked … they continue to do so until you get rid of them,” he said.

A tiger shark jumps out of the water.

At the peak of his career in 1968, Mr Malcolmson says he was tasked with hunting down a tiger shark that had eaten villagers along the Papua New Guinean coast only to gut the animal and discover an undigested human leg in its stomach.

A tiger shark in shallow water.

On another occasion while fishing for mullet in Moreton Bay, the Elanora local says he was attacked by a tiger shark while pulling in a net in 18 inches of water, forced to defend himself with an oar.

Mr Malcolmson said he had used nets as well as Japanese floats, similar to drum lines, to protect himself in the past and never accidentally snagged a dolphin in a career spanning more than 50 years.

But where a shark is known to have attacked humans, Mr Malcomlson says authorities should cull the animal.

“I’ve fished in areas where there are sharks all around me but I’ve protected myself with fishing nets,” he said.

“I’m sure dolphins don’t get caught up in them — they’re too sensible for that.

“They’re very funny actually dolphins. They’ll come right up the back of the boat, take the bait off your hook. They’re cunning.”

But where a shark is known to have attacked humans, Mr Malcomlson says authorities should cull the animal.

“It’s a political thing … there’s always a public backlash because there are a lot of people who feel that sharks shouldn’t be taken,” he said.

“To my way of thinking, if a shark becomes a menace, I think you should try to remove it.

“I’ve seen too many tragedies with sharks and I don’t like it.”