The Western Australian Fisheries Minister Norman Moore has announced he will be writing to the Federal Government this week to seek clarification about the white shark’s status as a protected species, following the fifth fatal attack by a white pointer in the state since September last year.

 

“There is no documented level of fatal attacks attributed to white sharks in such a short time and geographic location, anywhere in the world, than what we have experienced in WA and further action is necessary to deal with it,” Mr Moore said.

 

White sharks have been a protected species for more than a decade, since International Union for Conservation of Nature identified them as vulnerable.  The Federal Government’s White Shark Recovery Plan was released in 2002 and reviewed in 2008.  That review found insufficient evidence to confirm an increase in species abundance.

 

Mr Moore said the WA Government was urgently requesting the Federal Government share with WA what research data its agencies possessed that could be used for white shark population assessments and any outcomes of population assessments that might have been undertaken in the past by the Commonwealth.


“We need to know if there has been any update on the status of the white sharks and the sustainability level at which the Federal Government will lift protection.  I would also like to know if the Commonwealth is considering revising any policy,”  Mr Moore said.